Fall Into Pieces
by ScarletEden
Summary: Bounded by loyalty and regret, Dracule Eleison feared leaving her father's shadow and ruin everything he has done for her. And that's how Ace found her, befriended her, and saved her all in one. That's when the idiot decided to challenge the strongest man in the world, leaving her to save his stupid sorry ass. Sort of.
1. Chapter 1

**Warning:**

**This is an OC story so please don't hate on me for that. This is me testing out writing for the first time ever with someone I'm comfortable portraying, so some advice and reviews would be nice.**

**Just...don't shoot me down with a bazooka.**

**This story will KIND of follow the canon timeline, and because I am an inexperienced writer, the characters might (but let's be honest, probably will be) OOC, so please bear with me.**

**The story begins around the time Gol D. Roger was executed, and will jump-skip-hop to current time eventually. **

**And finally...**

**I do not own One Piece or any reference that may be seen in this story, intentional or not. **

**Thank you for your patience.**

* * *

**Chapter One: Gains and Losses**

When he inherited the title of the 'greatest swordsman', he was unprepared for all the burden that came with it. But then again, he would have never thought the title would come with a _child._

"You'll take care of her."

But there's very little he will deny his sister.

"Of course."

He knelt down next to his death ridden sister, eyes heavy with regret and sorrow and gently picked up the small child. She gave him a weak smile as approval when he shifted the child in his arms, careful not to stir her awake.

"I'm sorry I didn't let you win the title," his sister whispered, only pausing to force a painful cough out and to wheeze for more air.

"That's the least of his worries now," a raspy voice called out, alerting them of a new presence. Mihawk turned to see a snow-haired man covered in blood staggering over before collapsing next to the woman. "Maybe worry if he's e-ever going to get laid. "

The dying couple giggled and despite the blood pooling around them, they were still able crack jokes about his virginity.

That he lost a while back just not in the way they think but they don't need to know that.

Typical.

"Oh my god, my brother is still untouched as the falling snow, " Minai managed to half gasp, half giggle in response.

"I am not-"

"That's...that's another regret I'm having," the man giggled hysterically. Oh how he just wanted to end their misery early; it would be quick and painless, too. "Not barging in his sex life."

"...You both sound energetic for dying people," Mihawk snipped, only slightly insulted that they now choose the time to make fun of him. The two still continued to shake in laughter, only stopping when they started coughing blood. Mihawk tightened his grip on their baby before softly asking, "Is this what you truly want, Minai? Irin? To place your daughter's life in my hands?"

"You will take care of Eleison," Irin answered confidently, raising his hand up and gripped the swordsman's knee. Although it should have been a comforting gesture, he could only feel the heavy weight of burden fall harder on his shoulders. "Because -"

"I will haunt your untouched ass otherwise and you know I will," Minai finished. A small smile graced her lips before shutting her eyes, her life finally running on it's last flames. "I'll just...be predictable and regret she won't know us, So don't fail us."

And they couldn't even begin to fathom what kind of expectation he was given. They placed their world into his hands, and Mihawk knows what they expect from him. So many chances for him to fail, for the child to die, for him to ruin her future.

But this ruined house stained with blood and death left little room to refuse.

"Goodbye."

* * *

When Shanks saw the baby nestled in Mihawk's arms, the first thing that he thought was that the man knocked up some poor, unsuspecting woman.

The second thing that he thought was that baby is an angel that descended to earth.

Shanks was camped out on an island again, happily isolated from the rest of the world when the swordsman came to visit, and that alone was enough to call for a celebration. Seeing the cute and adorable child was like finding that extra beer barrel from nowhere. Despite being overly ecstatic about the baby, he felt a growing dread rise from the pit of his stomach, yet he couldn't pinpoint the reason why.

"Hawk-Eyes! It's been a while since I last saw you! Now hand over that bundle of joy!" Shanks greeted, his arms already held out. He beckoned with his fingers, his enthusiastic smile just growing wider, and if it stretched any more he swears his jaw will actual lock and will be renamed the Maniac Smiler.

"You're more likely to drop her than I am, so no," his great friend replied with a scoff, brushing past him to head deeper into his lovely abode. The image of _Mihawk_ with a _baby_ is still amazing in itself, so he couldn't help but jump to conclusions.

He followed the man inside his current residence, which was a small camp smack dab in the middle of a jungle, all the while trying to imagine different scenarios that would result a Mihawk plus baby.

"So old Mihawk finally got some action, eh?" Shanks said suggestively, wiggling his eyebrows in emphasis. "Was she..." He cupped his hands and made a squeezing motion. "Or more..." He traced an hourglass in the air.

Behind him, his crew was snickering quietly, probably doing their best not to offend the swordsman. Said swordsman just sighed, choosing to sit down than to answer. After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Shanks burst out in laughter in hopes of dissipating the silence.

"Come on, there's no shame! Who's the luc-"

"Minai is dead." So trying to joke his way through this wasn't the answer; couldn't blame him for trying, with this cloud of despairing doom hanging over their heads.

"So is Irin." This caused everyone to bustle around in agitated whispers, possible scenarios already being traded around like hot gossip.

Shanks couldn't say anything as he slowly took in this information. Dracule Minai and Silas Irin. Dead. He didn't think that was physically possible. Even as he was still trying to wrap his head around this, Mihawk continued on, as if he was trying to rip the band-aid off.

"There was an attack. Minai was already too weak from giving birth to help Irin, who took the brunt of the poison. Irin still killed them all, but Minai was also hit with the poison. Their child, however, remained safe from harm."

Shanks couldn't believe what he was hearing. Judging off Beckman's face, hell, his whole crew, they couldn't either.

He opened his mouth to say something comforting, but all that came out was another bellow of silence.

"What's her name?" Everyone turned to Beckman, a calm facade already in place. "The child. "

Mihawk was silent for a few seconds, choosing instead to look at the baby who was slowly waking up. A quiet noise dispelled the silence, and Shanks couldn't help but melt in love for the adorable baby.

"Eleison. Dracule Eleison," he heard Mihawk whisper softly. Shanks watched the man offer a finger to the fussing baby, who immediately latched on in delight. The sight of a domestic Mihawk was actually much more terrifying than imagined.

"That's a beautiful name," Beckman replied as he smiled in approval, completely ignoring Shanks' look of horror. Shanks shook himself out of his stupor, choosing instead to crawl towards Mihawk, and ultimately, little Eleison. When he got close enough, he couldn't help but to coo at the cute child. When the baby graced him with her attention and a small, meaningless babble, Shanks felt his heart swell in love and swooped the baby right out of his sparring partner's arms.

"OH YOU LITTLE BEACON OF EVERLASTING ADORABLENESS." Behind him, he vaguely registered twin sighs and a bunch of squawking, probably from Beckman, Mihawk, and his crew.

They just don't appreciate happiness when they see it. Nor can they see his brilliant plan.

He's going to shower little Eleison enough love to make sure she never feels sad about losing her parents, and then some.

Perfect plans are perfect plans.

* * *

"She has her mother's eyes."

Mihawk looked up and met Beckman's eyes, the man giving a small nod in sympathy. It was obvious, judging by the deep circles under his eyes, that he had little to no sleep with that little bundle of terror around.

Needless to say, these past few days were stressful for the swordsman. The baby wasn't as fussy or annoying he initially feared, however there was still too much he didn't know.

Apparently babies love waking up at the dead of the night.

And then waking him up.

And need constant attention.

Above all, they wail. A lot.

"And her father's hair. "

He turned back to see Shanks still squealing at little Eleison, an idiotic smile plastered on his idiot face. If it wasn't for the man's superior swordsmanship, he would have no respect for the captain.

"Who's a cute baby?! THAT'S RIGHT, YOU ARE! SO CUTE! UNCLE SHANKS IS GOING TO SPOIL YOU! OHH YES HE IS!" Shanks cooed, lifting the baby into the air and twirling around. Mihawk could almost see flowers and hearts hovering in the background as Shanks continued to act stupid. "Can't have grumpy Uncle Mihawk raining on your sunshine and rainbows!"

Actually, he wonders why this man is still alive.

"I don't remember letting you be her 'uncle' or even letting you near her," Mihawk said irritably, walking over and holding his hands out for the child. "And I believe it is time for us to go-"

"Don't wanna!" Shanks pouted, holding the babbling baby closer. Mihawk's hand twitched in annoyment at the redhead's antics. He was already exhausted from one child; the last thing he needed was for this idiot captain to act as a second.

"Don't be foolish, hand her over," Mihawk growled out, stepping forward again for the child. Shanks jumped farther back and held her closer, almost crushing the child to his chest.

"No! I wanna spend more time with baby Sion! She's going to grow up so fast, and then...AND THEN...SHE'LL COME HOME WITH A BOY-"

The Red Hair Pirates and the greatest swordsman watched as the captain grew more frantic, his hysteric cries reaching in volume. Mihawk briefly wondered if he could get away with killing their captain; he would be doing them a favor, really.

"Oi oi, captain, you're scaring the baby," Beckman cut in, stopping him mid rant. Sure enough, the child has long stopped her nonsense babbling, instead little tears were threatening to fall.

And none of the pirates were prepared for the absolute despair she unleashed on their ears.

"Wuh...WAHHHHHHH!" Eleison screamed right into Shanks unsuspecting eardrum, and even Mihawk felt bad for his sparring partner when the man staggered a bit at the sheer power of her vocal cords.

Mihawk, already long used to her death screech, immediately swooped in and pulled the wailing child out of Shanks' arms, quickly trying to calm his niece and prevent the island from being destroyed.

"Quiet, little one. There is nothing to fear," he murmured softly. He carefully cradled the child in his arms, whispering calming words into her ear. Even if she couldn't understand, his soothing tone succeeded in quelling the loud cries into tiny sniffles.

"Wow...you're not half bad at this parenting thing!" Shanks laughed loudly, his eardrum shot to death by Eleison's unearthly wail.

"Compared to you, any kind of parenting is amazing," Beckman muttered, causing the crew to snicker in agreement.

"O-oi! What did I say about bad talking the captain!?" Shanks said, his feelings mock hurt.

"Only to do it if you passed out or drop dead drunk?"

Mihawk sighed as the two started bickering, having been long used to this outcome. He turned around to walk away from the concentrated stupidity (Shanks), but the man threw himself onto Mihawk's back, sniffling into his shoulder.

"COMFORT ME, MIHA-"

"You're going to make her cry again, " Mihawk hissed, shielding Eleison from the snot riddled man. Immediately, the man flew off his back, backpedaling until he hit a tree. Figures that the red head idiot would have no problem being an annoying ass to the greatest swordsman, but would be scared shitless by a baby barely a year old.

"N-no need to cry, little Sion," Shanks laughed nervously, his smile awkwardly twitching in fear. "N-Nothing to b-be scared if while uncle S-Shanks is here!"

"Our fearless captain, " Beckman sighed, causing his crew to burst into laughter once more.

"Sion?" The crew's laughter died down as they redirected their attention to Mihawk. "Why are you calling her that?"

They all turned back to Shanks, who stared back, his dumbfounded smile still plastered on. The cricket silence that followed was laughable as it was cliche, and yet it still floated into the crowd like an awkward balloon.

"Eh? W-Well...Eleison, Sion! Like a cute nickname!" Shanks reasoned. He even looked proud of himself for coming up with that pathetic excuse of an idea. Mihawk should have expected that kind of reasoning from him; he should really knock down his expectation a peg or two down. Or all the way down. Or just give up and bury it six feet under. Instead he just sighed and turned around to head towards his coffin boat, prepared to leave the island and the idiot captain.

"...I see. I'm going, then."

Best to escape before the idiot throws himself at him like one of those idiot damsels.

"B-But BABBYYYY!" Shanks wailed again, getting up in preparation to throw himself as a human projectile.

"Are you suggesting that you want to take care of Irin's child?" Mihawk asked idly, not even bothering to turn around. And immediately, the dead silence returned, happily accompanied by growing horror as memories shuttered by through everyone's minds.

"Don't forget Minai is her mother," Mihawk continued, feeling the need to add fuel to the fire. He briefly glanced over his shoulder, curious of their expressions, and was rewarded looks of pure, undeniable terror.

He didn't realize how much his dear, departed sister terrorized the seas in her golden days.

That woman was truly the devil reincarnated.

He glanced back towards Shanks once more, silently waiting for his new retort, if any. The man stood there, gaping like a fish and cringing his hands for words, before a brilliant smile dazzled him.

"You'll be a great dad! Good luck!"

He figured that would work. He continued walking away towards his boat, ready to set sail and start a 20-year plan for Eleison that would most likely involve a sword, Haki, and cooking.

"Hey Mihawk!" The swordsman turned around again to face the captain, too tired to do anything else in protest and ready to deal with anything ranging from a bullet to sobbing. "If you ever need anything, the Red Haired Pirates are your friends. Especially me, got it!?"

The whole crew roared in agreement, lifting what weapons they had into the air as Shanks stood proud. Mihawk gave the smallest smile and briefly bowed his head in thanks, knowing those words will ring true regardless of the problem. Without saying anything, Mihawk turned back and continued walking away from the loud cheers, and in that moment, he truly believed that he could raise little Eleison just fine.

* * *

**And yay. Slow progress, but it's progress. Tell me what you think! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Hah. Sorry. I was thinking about jumping straight to the main part, but I thought I should address this specific thing about her first. It's like...a little bit of background? Yeah. **

**Support, advice, and love are much appreciated.**

**As always. I do not own One Piece or any intentional/unintentional reference I will make (other than my own character(s)). **

**Onward!**

* * *

"Eleison. I know I said the sword is an extension of your body, but I was talking figuratively. "

Mihawk knew that raising a child will be no easy feat. He may be considered a master swordsman, but he has nothing on the mothers of the sea. So far, he's learned too much and yet too little on how to properly raise a child. He could swear that this joyful brat shaved off a few years of his lifespan already.

And it's only been six years.

All things considered, Eleison wasn't _hard _ to raise (if compared to the spoiled disappointments of World Nobles)...just time consuming.

Extremely time consuming.

The little girl went from a babbling baby to a strange and curiosity driven child in a short six years, and maybe Shanks _did _have a point about little Eleison growing up a bit quicker than he believed.

Not like he would ever admit that, though. No way in hell would he give that idiot captain the satisfaction of being right.

She was old enough to hold a sword, and maybe old enough to learn how to use one. Although they were already off on the wrong foot, he believed with a little bit more effort, she would become an efficient swordsman.

"B-But...eshtension?"

Still a work in progress.

Mihawk sighed before kneeling down, his fingers brushing through her white moon hair out of her eyes. It was strange, seeing this kind of hair on someone other than Irin: pitch black hair by day, platinum silver by night. He remembered the first time he actually saw Irin's hair change when dusk turned into dawn: he admittedly thought Irin was a demon. That earned him a (well-deserved) beat down and his sister's strangled laughter, but who would blame him? He wouldn't admit it to a living soul, but he thought it was beautiful and perfect for their child.

Their child that was a perfect harmony between the two, with the father's unique hair, and the mother's unique eyes. And in a brief, weak moment, he let sorrow cloud his heart.

"Yes. Extension. You do not have to actually tape the sword to your hand, that is not what I meant," he explained, carefully peeling off the offending sticky strips off her sword and small hands. "A sword is your weapon, your shield, and your companion. However it will only attack if you attack, defend if you defend, and stay by your side as long as you do."

When the girl blinked up with her wide, owlish eyes, he only sighed again before giving her the sword back. This was going to be much more harder than he thought. And he already thought this was a near impossible task. But there is no way a Dracule will not learn the way of the sword. The Red Line would fall first.

'How did I learn the way of the sword?' Mihawk thought helplessly, trying to sift through his thoughts for the answer. Images of his sister ruthlessly beating him into the ground sprung up, all violent and full of her cackling laughter, before he managed to shake himself free from the horror.

"I doubt I can teach her daughter like that," he grumbled, dragging a hand over his face. "How do you even _talk _to a child this young? "

While Mihawk was suffering under serious thoughts, Eleison managed to drag herself to a small boulder, a determine glint in her eyes.

"Extension..." Mihawk looked up just in time to see the child he's grown to love and cherish swing her sword down, a look of unbreakable concentration etched on her small face. At first, he feared the sword will bounce right off and further unmotivate her from learning, but then what happened instead shocked him.

Not only did she split the rock in half, she also split the floor beneath her. _And on top of that, _**the ground beneath her cracked.**

And when he finally thought that was the last of it, her sword actually _shattered. _

"Eleison!" He yelled, running over and scooping up the child. He quickly checked for injuries, flipping her hands open and running his hand over her arms, fearing for the worst. When the greatest injury he found was a tiny cut on her shoulder, he couldn't help but sigh in relief. Part of him was relieved that she seemed mostly unharmed physically, but what was really bothering him was _what the fuck just happened._

A quiet whimper pulled him away from his thoughts and back to the terrified girl in his arms, who seems to be trying to disappear by curling up in a ball and she might actually succeed at this rate. Her eyes were sealed tight with her shaking hands clasped together like some kind of prayer.

He immediately calmed his features hoping to calm her down before something drastic happens. Like the apocalypse. He hummed softly in her ear, slipping his fingers soothingly through her hair until she finally calmed down enough to talk.

If Shanks saw him now, he might actually faint at the sight of him being so sickly domestic.

"Eleison." At the sound if her name, he felt her tense up, in fear or in habit, he couldn't tell, so he studiously ignored it and continued speaking. "Can you tell me what happened? I am not angry with you, just curious."

He waited for her to find her voice again, patience a simple task to do. It took a long while, the little girl shifting around in his arms trying to find a proper explanation for what happened to the boulder, floor, and sword.

"I-I..." He continued to wait, silently urging her to continue. "Was trying to cut...to cut the rock. A-And then my head start hurting...hurt a lot, too...and then pa picked me up."

He blinked in surprise at her explanation, not one of his questions answered, but instead was just handed another sea full of questions. Although if he stopped panicking for a second, he would realize that the six year old probably wouldn't have a single clue either.

"Does your head still hurt? " he asked softly, placing a hand on her temple. When she whimpered and leaned into his touch, he already knew the answer. And knew what he had to do.

Now if only finding out how little Eleison managed to decimate a rock, a floor, and a sword was that simple.

"It sounds like your child has an extraordinary gift for Haki. Or at the very least, Armament Haki."

Haki. Huh. Why didn't he think about that.

Probably because Eleison was only six years of age and has no prior experience or knowledge about what Haki even is.

When he voiced these thoughts, the warrior princess in front of him replied with a shrilly giggle and he almost bashed his head on the table in response.

The moment he made sure there was no lasting injuries on Eleison, he immediately set sail for the only place that might have even the slightest clue what happened: Amazon Lily. He knew he was going to regret coming to this god forsaken island. The hope of all men, his black sword. These women are more likely to pull your balls off out of curiosity over anything else.

And this specific woman in front of him was just painfully smitten with him.

He really needs better acquaintances.

"You don't need to _know _Haki to _do _Haki," she answered, sweeping her long hair over her shoulder. A blind man could tell she was trying to flirt, but Mihawk knew as long as he didn't give her the time of day or the smallest hint of interest, it'll be left as a pitiful crush. Now if she could just _take the bloody hint_, his plan would work perfectly. He would rather not have a ship full of raging women coming after him. Reliving _that_ experience was not very high on his list.

"Then why did her head hurt? From what she remembers, she didn't even realize what she was doing." Mihawk was unsatisfied with the amount of information he's getting from this. She's only _six_. How could she possibly know how to use Haki? On top of that, Armament Haki? Normally when a person taps into their locked potential, the explosive power would be Conqueror Haki. Nothing ever makes sense in this world.

"I would assume letting that explosive power out all at once at such a young age would have some sort of backlash. It would be best to train her with a weapon that might have less impact," she replied.

Suddenly, her smile became sultry, an obvious attempt to get into his pants once more. She started crawling over the safety of the table that separated the two of them, swaying her hips in a provocative fashion. "But now that's answered...won't you keep me company? Your child is safe, and I helped...surely I deserve some kind of..._reward?_"

This is why he does his best to avoid her. Ever since he beat her in a fight, she's been clingy and professing her undying love for him. He regret ever accepting her haughty challenge, because now there's no way he can get out of this predicament.

But the moment she tries to stick her hand down his pants, to hell with 'chivalry' and 'not hurting women'. Hell wouldn't even be enough to pay.

"P-Papa?" He quickly got up (and away from that snake woman) and towards Eleison, who was trying to rub the sleepiness out of her eyes. Oh his lord and savior. He takes back every discontent grumble he ever said or thought of about his angel.

"Yes? You want to go home? Alright, I finished my business here. Thank you for your help. Goodbye," Mihawk said in a rush, all the while scooping up the disoriented child up and poorly disguising his haste as a brisk walk out the door. He ignored her pleas of 'wait come back my love we can talk this out!', ignored all of the looks of awe and curiosity, ignored the raging animals in the jungle, and headed straight to his vessel to take him away from this devil snare of an island.

When the island finally disappeared from his sight (and wistfully hopes out of his life), he let out a sigh of relief, relaxing in his boat with a silent thank you to any deity that prevented the woman from chasing after him.

"Papa?" The quiet voice shook him out of his thoughts again, blinking back into reality and away from the beautiful fantasy of a world where that woman isn't stalking his every movement.

He looked back down at Eleison, who was staring back at him with sleepy eyes. He softly smiled in response, brushing her hair out of her eyes as he leaned down to press a soft kiss to her forehead. Facing that whiny woman was worth the information he received, and Mihawk was already revising his plan to accommodate Eleison's supposedly uncontrollable power.

"It seems that you are having a hard time with a sword," Mihawk stated, propping the child up into a more comfortable position. "For now, we will train in another weapon." Truth be told, he didn't expect Eleison's cute sleepy face to contort into one of pure despair and sorrow. "What's wrong?"

"Am I that bad? I wanna keep trying, 'cause I -" He had to stop the child before she just throws herself into a full-blown panic attack. He never realized how much of an impact he has on her. He would've thought she would be at least 25% giggles and randomness because of Shanks. The swell of pride that followed that thought was probably uncalled for, but he really couldn't care less at that moment.

"You are not bad. You are just too strong. You must learn how to crawl before walking, walking before running," he answered, cupping her cheek with his free hand and giving a small smile. This child was going to be the death of him. Or at the very least, the death of his reputation.

"Oh. Okay. Do I still get to learn how to sword?" she pressed, an odd determination once again presented to him. "I still want to learn."

The death of him indeed.

"Of course. That is for certain. For now...I believe I know what weapon will better suit you for now. Until you have a better control of your strength, at least."

It was a lie; he had no clue what would be best for her. His mind was racing through all the kind of weapons he's seen so far, but none of them seem appropriate for a small child with devastating power.

But he raised a child, so damn straight picking a weapon of less destruction wouldn't be as hard.

* * *

**Again. Reviews, advice, critiques, favorites, follows...be the fire to my motivation and I will not disappoint you. **

**But all joking aside, telling me what you think is always a bonus!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi. So I think I gave enough background to get the story started. Kind of. I'm still trying to build experience, so reviews and such would be helpful and much appreciated. **

**This chapter takes place after a time skip, so she's now about 17 years old. **

**Thanks for your patience and support!**

**Don't own One Piece.**

* * *

Eleison tied her ship up to the rock, breathing a sigh of relief to have finally reached her destination. Despite navigating the seas for so many years, the journey always made her antsy and paranoid on a ship.

Not because people might attack her, but what would happen to the people who do. There's no way she can ruin her father's reputation and just let it slide. She couldn't help but remember the horrified faces of her attacker turned victims, especially when they were painted over with their own blood.

It's been years of this daily routine. Years since it felt like her world flipped and grew scared of consequences.

When Eleison learned that her father wasn't really "father", it unfortunately led to a full blown panic attack. Wasn't her proudest moment, yes, also uncalled for, sure, but she was ten.

Only ten when it felt like everything she came to believe just crashed and burned; needless to say, it wasn't the greatest feeling ever. Following that was just months of attempt reassurances, constant attention, and stiff conversations. All with good intentions, most ending with horrible results.

Horrible results as in fearing to disappoint her fath- unc- father and maybe he'll abandon her because she failed him. Considering everything he's done for her, she knows it's a stupid thought, a little offensive even, but it made sense to the ten year old child, and that was enough reason for it to stay rooted in her mind for eleven more years.

She doesn't blame Shanks for trying, though. It may have done more damage than intended, but the thought was appreciated a few years later. He really shouldn't have compared father's love to booze. There was enough stories about bad choices when drunk and the regret that follows the hangovers to scare her off alcohol for good.

It has really been an interesting decade plus one.

And considering all of that, that's where she is now. A dandy 17 years of age with her piercing golden eyes supposedly inherited from her mother and the midnight, moonlight hair received from her father, and completely scared of being abandoned.

Just another child of the sea. Just another child who didn't belong. Living the dream.

And wasn't that just the best ingredient to sleepless nights and blood curdling nightmares? At least the night terrors aren't around anymore.

"Mr. Crocus, I've run out of medicine."

Alright, so maybe not _always_ around, but it's getting better. It's still progress.

Eleison was visiting the owner of the Twin Capes Lighthouse and the gigantic whale, partially for fun, mostly for the drugs. The old man looked up, his permanent frown waiting as a greeting. Undeterred, Eleison smiled and walked closer, taking the time to also greet Laboon, who bellowed a 'hello' back. When the frown failed to disappear, Eleison's own smile faltered along with her steps. Normally by now, the old man would offer a small smile or some strange retort. The lack of either was extremely unsettling.

"I gave you enough medicine to last half a year," he said offhandedly, returning his attention back to his paper. Eleison's heart dropped, her spirit sinking with it. This was a familiar conversation. One she's not very fond of at all.

"I-I know. I kind of...lost them?" she tried lying, squeezing her eyes shut as if that would hide the reality. When her doctor replied with silence, she sighed and bowed for forgiveness. "I'm sorry. After a while, the medication wouldn't keep me asleep, so I…"

"Doubled the dosage without permission?" he finished, looking at her over the tips of his glasses. She always hated when he did that. Always made her feel disappointed in herself while doing the whole self reflecting thing. "I told you that could cause severe side effects."

Eleison slumped even more at the reprimand, feeling even more miserable and exhausted. She knew this was coming, but it still stung like disappointment and failure, two feelings she's painfully familiar with.

Crocus sighed before standing up, beckoning her closer with his hand. She hesitated for a second before shuffling closer, shoulders hunched and eyes trained to the ground. She stood in front of him, careful not to make eye contact when she felt a hand on her head, ruffling her hair into unruly locks.

"Hmph. I knew that was going to happen."

Eleison blinked, letting the sentence soak in. _He knew?_

The girl snapped her head up, ready to ask what did he mean by that, when a ship came crashing down the mountain. The two of them stared at each other and then the ship. It wasn't every day you see some new pirates come crashing down Reverse Mountain.

When no one came bursting out of the ship in tears or joy or whatever, Eleison took a step closer, wondering if the crew actually died from shock.

"W-We.." Ah, so they are alive. Cheers. "WE MADE IT!"

The expected cheers burst through the ship like exploding cannons, some of them wailing in happiness, others running around whooping in joy. She's also sure she saw two of them smacking lips, but it might just be the lights playing tricks. Probably. She couldn't help but give a tiny smile at their overflowing joy, it was dangerously contagious.

"H-Hey...where's the captain? CAPTAIN? DID HE FALL OVERBOARD?" Suddenly the loud cheers vanished, instead replaced with frantic screaming and loud thuds. Probably from boots and falling faces. "WHERE IS HE?"

The joyful atmosphere quickly drowned as the pirates grew hysteric with the crew ready to swim _back_ up the mountain to find their beloved leader. Eleison didn't even try to pacify their fears, instead choosing to watch them in amusement but mostly in disbelief. It hasn't even been five minutes, but they already lost their _captain?_

"Ah! I fell asleep again!" There was something wrong with this crew. Or at least their captain. She watched as the captain stagger up to the deck, still woozy from his impromptu nap, and came face to face with his wailing crew. "What are you guys bawling about?"

"Strange crew," Crocus commented, idly rubbing his beard. Eleison briefly glanced over at her doctor before looking back at the crew, who seemed to _finally_ notice that they exist. "Well. Congratulations on making it over Reverse Mountain."

For some reason, that called for another celebration as the crew re-erupted in more cheers, going straight back to where they left off. Eleison sighed and briefly wonder how long it'll take for this crew to sink before reaching the first island. Out of curiosity, she glanced up at their Jolly Roger, a grinning skull and cross bones wearing a hat with two smileys and 'SPADE' written in bold letters.

The Spade Pirates.

Eleison stared in surprise at the flag, recalling bits and pieces she knew about the rookie crew. Something about a fiery captain with a hot temper to match, or something?

"Hey!" the captain called out, jumping out onto the rock ledge with ease. A polite smile and an outstretched hand was already there as a greeting, and Eleison couldn't help but smile back at his glowing enthusiasm. "I'm Portgas D. Ace, captain of the Spade Pirates!"

When Eleison's suspicions were confirmed, she politely shook his hand and replied, "Nice to meet you. I'm Eleison." She could tell that the lack of a last name didn't go unnoticed, but was thankful when he didn't draw attention to it. Before she knew it, she was drawn into a conversation with the captain, who talked with passion and vigor, and time suddenly jumped from morning to near night. Eleison couldn't remember the last time she talked to someone for this long, barring the usual people.

It was the most fun she's had in years.

She learned that Ace had two brothers, the younger one who dreams to become the Pirate King, but nothing about the older. Learned he ate the Mera Mera Fruit a little after he started his adventure and gathered his crew. Learned that he loved the idea of being a pirate, the idea of being free to do anything the sea has to offer.

And in exchange, she told him about growing up in the Grand Line. Told about how she uses a double dagger rope dart, but also has a sword she loves dearly. Told how she thinks pirates like him are cool, and she believed he could get pretty far in this ocean.

The only two only stopped talking when Ace's stomach gave a grumble of discontent that rivaled earthquakes. The two stared at each other for a few seconds before bursting in laughter, the mirth filling up the silence easily.

"Oh man, it's so late! Sorry for imposing on you for so long," Ace apologized sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. For some reason, Ace reminded her of Shanks: loud, passionate, wild, those kind of traits.

Then again, they are pirates.

"No worries! I have to leave before it gets dark, anyway," Eleison assured with another smile. It was a good thing Ace's stomach started grumbling. Any longer and she might have been in trouble...can't have her identity so easily revealed to a bunch of pirates, after all.

She stood up and turned around to call for Crocus, only to find him behind her with his trademark frown. "Uh, I have to go now?"

Crocus continued to stare at them with a frown, enough to make them both uncomfortable and antsy. And then he suddenly sat down with a newspaper.

"O-OI!" Eleison blinked at the loud yell, turning her head to see Ace fuming behind her. Clearly doesn't like being ignored like that. "What the hell was that for, bastard!" And when her new friend suddenly erupted into flames, she jumped back from shock and in fear of getting burned. Ace, not even paying attention to her anymore, stomped closer and pointed a flaming finger close to Crocus' chest.

"I'm talking to you!"

Crocus regarded him with a cool stare and frown once again. "You should calm down. Someone could get hurt." Oh no. Not this again.

"Oh yeah? You going to challenge me?" Ace was surprising easily to rattle. Eleison was about to try to defuse the situation when Crocus answered.

"No. I'll get hurt." And immediately that doused Ace's flames, probably from surprise. Eleison slapped her hand over her face, dragging it down with a groan.

Should have realized that Crocus would do something like that.

"Eleison. You have to stay tonight. I still didn't make your medicine." That grabbed her attention in a second, her face paling instantly. She pushed Ace to the side to stand in front of Crocus, momentarily forgetting the audience.

"W-What?! What were you doing, then!?" If she didn't have her medicine, she can't sleep. And she can't let her hair turn silver, it'll be painfully obvious who she is.

"You never asked." Eleison felt her anger rise at the old man, fall because he was right, but rise back up because he's just being an ass now. She slumped in defeat in the end after a few more anger cycles, accepting that there's nothing she can do now.

"Uh…"

Eleison snapped her head back up, gaping at Ace with wide, terrified eyes. She just act like a spoiled brat in front of her new friend. Now he probably thinks she's a pampered idiot now, and her heart sank to her stomach at that thought. "This...I mean, I can explain? Well, no I can't, but like-" She was cut off by Ace suddenly keeling over and crumpled onto the ground. "Ace?!"

That was the last thing she was expecting. Did he die from shock? Her friend just died, and it hasn't even been an hour since they've met.

"Capta- oh. Dammit. Everyone! He fell asleep again!" She turned to one of the pirates who was approaching quickly. "Sorry about that. Captain has narcolepsy, so he just randomly falls asleep sometimes. He's fine though. Happens a lot."

Narcolepsy. Wasn't expecting that. If she had a list of possible reasons why the pyro was down on the floor like a rag doll, narcolepsy wouldn't even hit the top hundred.

"Ah. Well...okay?" Eleison slowly turned around again, deciding to leave that situation to solve itself.

"I'll have your medication done in a week. I don't have my usual stock of herbs, because some child thought it was a good idea to devour it all." Eleison had the decency to wince at the (not) subtle message her doctor was throwing.

"Hey, uh. Our ship is kinda beat up because of that mountain. Is it okay if we…?" The two looked back at the Spade Pirates, who were grinning with sheepish smiles and making gestures at the ship and themselves and at the rock. At least they're being polite about it.

"Don't break anything. And don't hurt Laboon," Crocus replied as he got up to walk back into the lighthouse. The crew stared at his retreating back before staring at her instead.

"...Laboon?"

"Oh. The giant whale." And like it was called, Laboon burst out of the ocean and showered them with sea water and bellowed in their ears. "Ah, there he is now!" The crew mate dropped Ace in shock, choosing to stare up at the towering black wall of doom and destruction instead. The captain hit the floor and startled awake, drool slipping down his chin before his jaw dropped somewhere down on the ground with his eyes widening like plates.

Eleison came here for medicine, but this wasn't so bad either.

"OH MY GOD IT'S A WHALE? CAN I EAT IT?"

"CAPTAIN, NO!"

Not bad at all.

* * *

**Yeah. I still have to work on making the chapters longer...**

**So probably need more details and such. Tips and advice, anyone?**

**Tell me what you think!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**Heyyyy...so.**

**I think it's going to be a slow build for practice. Need to learn how to build suspension and have some character and whatever. Of course, that means I'm just going to take a crack ton more time trying to piece my thoughts together. But you know, yay progress.**

**Oh and hopefully, some of your 'wtf is going on' questions will be answered. Hopefully.**

**Advice, follows, favorites, reviews and tips are much appreciated. **

**And when I mean by tips/ideas, I mean 'how do you think I should push the story? I have a very vague sense, but it could go a lot of ways.' kind of thing. **

**Don't own One Piece, just my character.**

* * *

"Hey Sion! Watch this!" Eleison looked up just in time to see Ace catapult himself off the lighthouse, do about thirty flips, and did an amazing face plant on Laboon's head.

"Wow. You're so graceful, Ace. Like a majestic bird," she deadpanned, watching him roll off the gigantic sea mammal and into the ocean. "Yeah. So majestic. I think I'm swooning for you."

She watched with idle interest as one of his crew yelled and jumped in after their beloved captain, as the rest stood on the shore laughing their lungs out. When the two resurfaced, it set off another round of laughter as they (or the not-anchor) swam back to the safety of the shore for the nth time.

The Spade Pirates stayed at the Twin Capes Lighthouse for a week, repairing the ship and making sure everything was as perfect as possible (where they got the food is still a mystery) for the long voyage across the Grand Line. Eleison herself couldn't leave because Crocus was being a stingy old man who felt like making her best chance of sleeping at night without haunting nightmares at the slowest rate possible. But it was a blessing in disguise; by the end of the week, it felt like Ace was her soul mate.

As a friend, of course. Not those lovey-dovey things, dear god no. It was nothing cheesy like 'it was meant to be' or 'match made in the pirate seas' or whatever, that would be a bit too much for a newly made friendship.

Of course it wasn't a perfect friendship.

Eleison still made sure to stay away from the pirates when the sun disappeared over the horizon, and she was thankful that Ace asked no questions about her sudden disappearance, although the crew had less tact, surprisingly enough; she would've thought it would be Ace jumping first day to find out where she vanished into the night.

Then again, there was enough speculation going around about the reasons why. Some ranging from 'she likes to sleep early' to 'she transforms into a hideous monster when the sun disappears' were always the amusing answers they would come up with, none of them close to the truth.

Which is a good thing. If they ever guessed the truth, there's going to be some drastic measures.

To this day, she still doesn't understand where the nickname "Guillotine" came from. None of her victims came out beheaded or anything. Maybe it was her silver hair resembling the blade, since she only goes about killing assholes at the dead of the night. And it was only a few times, too; the Marines sure do like to slap bounties on any possible head. You would think that the people who stand for justice and righteousness would do something better with their money. Like feed the hungry and clothe the poor.

"Hey, Sion!" Ace was running towards her with his huge grin on his face, his fire quickly evaporating the water clinging to his body and clothes. She blinked out of her musings and turned her attention over to the excited man, wondering what was going on now. "I just thought of a really good idea!"

"Enlighten me," she replied with amusement. It probably wouldn't be anything bad. Maybe going to ask to go lighthouse jumping with him, or something.

"Join my crew!"

Whatever joyous laughter that was in the background immediately died after a strangled choke and an unusual dull thud. Something must have just died. Was probably her soul.

"Um. Ace...I...I can't," Eleison forced out, looking at anything but his face. The last thing she wanted to see was Ace's rejected sad frown and puppy eyes, she made that mistake way too many times already. Lethal weapons, they are.

"You can't, or you don't want to?" The question caught her off guard and she snapped her eyes back to his in shock, staring with wide eyes. The expected dejected pout was no where on his face, but instead a look of triumph, and immediately she thought with a dawning horror that Ace knew her carefully guarded secret. She hasn't even so much as hinted as having a father, so how?

"T-That...uh...want...can't..I'm...this….." There was no way she could convince him otherwise now. But she didn't want to lose her friend. But if she joined another pirate crew, would her father turn his back on her? Sneer at her in disgust? Call her a disappointment? Say that her real mother and father would regret having her?

And in a heartbeat, it felt like she was drowning again, suffocating under her sea of fears. Faint, frantic sounds screamed in the background, but nothing could shake her out of what possessed her thoughts.

A panic attack. This wasn't time for a damn panic attack. There wasn't even a good reason for a panic attack. So why is there no air?

She could feel hands on her shoulders literally trying to shake her back into consciousness and hands cupping her cheeks in hopes of getting through her clouded vision, but it swiftly died in favor of the screaming in the back of her head.

'I'm going to die,' Eleison couldn't help think through the hazy tears. 'Who's going to buy father his wine, now?'

Priorities.

Ace suddenly swam back into her vision and felt his warm hands resting on her cheeks. A dim thought of 'wow he's so warm like a toasty marshmallow'' briefly drifted into her mind, but was replaced by the fact Ace had his lips on hers.

Ace was kissing her.

Quite badly, she might add.

But there was physically contact between lips.

Like actual touching and everything.

At least there was no tongue.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing!" Eleison screeched, flailing enough to whack him in the face and kick him in the shin. She was about to try to stomp him into the ground when she felt arms wrap around her torso and lift her into the air, and before she knew it, shouts of relief erupted with cheers.

"SHE'S ALIVE! THAT OLD MAN REALLY IS A DOCTOR!" someone shouted to her left. She slowly turned to stare at Crocus, piecing together the story. The doctor's satisfied grin just made it a bit more obvious.

"You…!" Eleison pointed an accusing finger towards Crocus and tried to say something, but shock got the best of her vocabulary. "This! What?! Kissing?!"

Everyone roared in laughter at Eleison's apparently lack of speech for a few minutes, long enough to let her fume in embarrassment and anger. Ace didn't join in the laughter, but his own blinding grin made up for that.

"I'm glad you're okay," Ace said happily, taking the time to spin her around like some damsel before finally setting her down on her feet. She gave a weak smile in return, still a bit embarrassed that she just had a dumb panic attack over something so stupid and insignificant, and had some kiss snap her out of it. "I'm really sorry."

"Nothing really to apologize for. It was a stupid reason to have an attack like that," she reassured. Embarrassment was still welled up in her chest and she couldn't look at Ace in the eye. When in the four seas did she turn into one of those swooning girls?

"Eleison, you should go with them." Everyone turned to gawk at the person who dared suggest that idea, especially after that whole freak out incident. When it turned out to be Crocus, Eleison slumped to the ground in defeat. She should've listen to Shanks when he warned her about Crocus. "I got your medicine, too."

Manipulative old bastard.

"Crocus. You know I can't for _obvious _reasons." She hoped that her emphasis would deter the man from whatever insane idea he has in his head.

"Nonsense. You got nothing better to do," he waved off, completely dismissing her excuses. "I'm not saying to join his crew. Just have a small adventure."

"T-That's not how it works! I can't just 'hang out' with a pirate crew like that!" Eleison said frantically, trying to express how insane that idea sounds by flailing her arms around and nearly smacking herself in the face, although she did succeed in smacking some poor pirate in the throat.

"Sure you can!" Ace cut in, easily throwing his arm around Eleison's shoulders and pinning her arms down. Probably just in case she accidently flail-smacks him, too. "That's not a bad idea, old man!"

She turned her head to gape at Ace, who flashed her another grin of triumph. She didn't turn back, but she just knew that Crocus had the same grin on his own damn face.

"You remember when I cherish you as a friend? I take it back. I'm going to kill you," Eleison hissed, trying to squirm out of Ace's reach. Instead of cowering for forgiveness at her feet like she wanted, Ace merely laughed and hollered to his crew about the temporary new addition to their merry band of pirates. "You're not going to be like...'oh she's a girl, a delicate flower of the sea! We can't tarnish her innocence!'"

Ace stared at her with a dumbfounded look before bursting into an uncontrollable fit of laughter.

"YOU'RE AS DELICATE AS LABOON ON LAND!" he managed to gasp out, doubling over in renewed laughter. That didn't hurt her feelings at all. Nope. Not even a bit, that asshole.

After smashing that asshole's face into the ground, Eleison turned back to Crocus, who still had that stupid grin on his face, and was tempted to smash his face into the ground, too.

"You know I can't join a pirate crew. Why do you even suggest that?" Eleison asked, rubbing her head in frustration and hoped she could reign in her temper just enough she won't actually bring down Reverse Mountain. At this rate, she's going to lose the argument, and the old man is going to get his way. Again. Why are all the old pirates so...ugh.

"Sure you can. You got permission," he said slyly, his grin growing even wider, like he knew something she didn't. "You're not going to send your friend off to sea when he doesn't know the first thing about Log Poses?"

"What do you mean send him off to se-" Eleison abruptly cut herself off, letting that sentence sink in. Log Pose. She whipped around, turning to Ace where he sat up in attention. "Tell me your crew has a Log Pose, and you didn't enter the Grand Line without some kind of research or hoo-hah."

"Log what?" Ace replied intelligently, furrowing his eyes in that 'this is my thinking face' look. "What's that?" What has this generation come to. New pirate age, yeah right.

"Are you telling me," Eleison said slowly, walking closer with clenched fists. "That you were going to wing your way through the _entire ocean?" _If she said anything else, it would have probably sounded like a death threat. Or a promise for a one-sided massacre.

The crew behind him had the dignity to look sheepish, darting their eyes away and trying to whistle the awkward and stupid away from the situation. Ace just cocked his head to the side with pouting lips, still not understanding the problem of charging head first into adventure. Dear god, how is he still alive?

"Ace, the Grand Line has a special kind of magnetic field. A normal compass won't work. That's what a Log Pose is for," Eleison explained patiently. She took out her own Pose and showed it to them. "A Log Pose is a special compass; it locks on the magnetic field of the island you're currently at and then points to the next island." When Ace nodded with the 'I am going to pretend I understand' face, she sighed in defeat. This was probably what Crocus had in mind all along.

"Well. I don't have a Log Pose. And you do. I think we can come to an agreement," Ace said suggestively, wiggling his eyebrows high enough to reach his forehead.

"I accept. Here's her medicine. Only give her one a day at night," Crocus cut in, stepping up with a bag and handing it over to Ace. Eleison spluttered and watched Ace grin conspiratorially back at Crocus, satisfied with this outcome and took the bag with obvious glee. It finally occurred to her that _they planned this._ Those imbeciles planned out this whole scenario to get her onto Ace's ship and to sail with them, even if it was for a while.

"I hate you both. I'm going to drown every single one of you," Eleison groaned out, collapsing to the floor and rested her hands on her head. "I will feed you to the Sea Kings and have no regrets watching you get ripped to shreds."

Apparently the threats worked so well that the pyromaniac laughed and squatted down in front of her, with no apparent fear that she could follow up on her threat.

"Come on, it won't be that bad!" Ace tried again, bringing one hand up to gently grasp the back of her neck, encouraging her to look up. He pressed his forehead against her, and for a second, it felt like the tension seeped out of her like a heatwave. It was a calming gesture (strangely enough) and it made her relax minutely against him when he reached up to wrap his arms around her shoulders. "I promise I won't make you do anything you want to. But I think you should come with us for an adventure!"

"I'm going to send you on an adventure all right," she muttered, raising a fist to gently knock against Ace's temple, applying enough force to put pressure down, but not enough to hurt. "Adventure in hell." In actuality, she was already thinking about the logged route they're going to take, the kind of islands they're going to stop at, the kind of hell she's going to go through, etc. etc.

Yeah. So fucked.

Eleison gave the slightest nod, giving in to their demands and the Spade Pirates erupted in cheers. Really, is his crew only good for cheering? From what she's seen this past week, with all the screaming and partying and the amount of times Ace fell into the ocean, maybe. Ace himself looked like he just conquered the Grand Line (and she'll never say a word of it to a soul, but it was a smile that made her feel that everything was going to be okay) and suddenly stood up, pulling her up with him.

"Great! Let's go!" Before she, or anyone, could react, he picked her up like a sack of potatoes and walking over to his ship. They were leaving this very second. She didn't even had time to even harden her resolve and all that jazz. When no one moved to follow, he turned around to quizzically peer over his shoulder, the one where Eleison _wasn't_ acting like a corpse, of course, and shouted again. "What's wrong? Come on! We got an ocean to sail!"

"I hate my life." Eleison groaned and fell limp in his hold, giving up on any idea of protest because clearly, this is what her life choices have led up to. For some reason, that got shook the crew out of whatever possessed them, and started running checks to set sail. On the side, Crocus watched with an accomplished smile, making no efforts to stop the pirates from whisking away Eleison into a short life of misadventures.

"If I die, I hope father comes after you and tears you a new one," Eleison called out, waving at the old man. She really is thankful for everything he's done for her, even though he has to do it in such a roundabout way.

Because packing her off with some pirates is clearly the best way to get her mind off things.

"Hey! Do we got enough food!? We're not going to start our long awaited adventure without food!" Ace yelled, not even bothering putting his temporary crewmate down. "And we're probably going to need a room for this delicate flower!"

"I'm going to sink your ship," she said with a low, threatening voice. She started to dig her nails into his back, trying her best to claw her way out of Ace's hold. "I will sink your ship and then drown you _dead_." Eleison let out a yell of triumph when Ace yelped in pain and dropped her to the deck in favor of trying to touch his back to stem off the pain. She rolled to her feet to stand up again and made her way to the side of the ship to have her one last doubt before she left with the Spade Pirates for who knows how long.

'Is this really okay? What if he's mad at me for this? What if I get caught? It'll bring him so much trouble...I can't ever do that.' The constant stream of thoughts struggled forward unrelentingly, but was suddenly cut off when a voice broke through.

"Eleison!" The insecured girl looked up to see Crocus cupping his mouth, prepared to yell something that would most likely solidify her resolve. "Your mom and dad would have been proud of you." Something in her chest tighten, either out of joy or of sorrow, she really couldn't tell. But that proud smile on Crocus' face was worth while, at the very least. She smiled back and waved as hard as she could, as if this might be the last time she will see him. Anything is possible on the watery graves, after all. She kept waving until the lighthouse disappeared from sight, and suddenly it felt like all the fight left her body in one fell swoop. She slowly sank to her knees, her hands still gripping the side of the ship with white clenched fingers, and started to panic.

'There's no turning back now. I made my choice. I have to go through with it.' Even as she was trying to convince herself the good points of going with Ace, even for a little while, that fear that terrorized her since she was ten tore apart whatever reasonings she could come up with. So far, like every other time, she isn't succeeding in calming her own fears down.

Even after all this time, there was practically no progress in overcoming her pointless fears. It was a little pathetic.

"Hey! You okay? Didn't think you would get seasick." She heard Ace walking up to her from behind, his footsteps echoing on the wooden planks as he neared. "Is the delicate flower seasick?"

Eleison wanted to turn around and say 'I'm going to rip you a new asshole, you asshole' while following with a dropkick to the face, but instead a choked off whine forced her way up and out of her throat like bile. That must have cause concern, because the next moment she felt his warm hand resting between her shoulders, rubbing soothing circles like some kind of doting brother.

After a few minutes of silence, Eleison took one more shuddering breath before turning her head to the side to look at Ace, who was frowning in concern. It was strange to see his face scrunched up like that, almost as if he was trying to think really hard, but at most could manage the face.

"Sorry about that. I'm not one to do things spur of the moment," she tried explaining. Ace just (thankfully) laughed and the two of them stood up. Hopefully what just happened will forever be erased from reality.

If only.

She let him suddenly pulled her close, his arm looping around her shoulders as he dragged her toward the deck. The rest of the crew was already waiting, anxious to receive some kind of order to get this adventure on it's way.

"Alright, guys! For now, it looks like Sion is going to be our friend!" Ace announced, pumping his fist into the air. The crew roared back in response, some laughing, others dancing in joy. She really hopes they will actually make it to the first island. At this rate, she might have better luck _swimming_. She took a deep breath and stepped up, clapping her hands together to gather their attention.

"Alright. The journey to the first island is pretty rough. I hope you don't plan on sleeping, because the ocean isn't," she said. "So if you get thrown overboard within the next twelve hours, woops."

Maybe that was a bit too harsh, judging their rapidly paling faces, but at least Ace looked like his birthday came early. Clearly gets off on the idea of danger and adventure, unlike his poor crew.

In the week she's known the Spade Pirates, she could tell that they were all good people (since Ace trusted them, anyway), but their strength was another question. Now was a good time as ever to test their capabilities as a crew.

Hopefully not die trying.

* * *

Crocus felt deeply satisfied when he saw the ship disappear out to sea, and with it, the brat he's watched grow up over the years. She was close enough to be considered his granddaughter, despite how much her dad may grumble and protest about it. If everything goes well, she'll grow up even more with the other brat, the flaming one, and that innocent smile might make it's way back.

All in all, it's been a good week.

At first he was unsure to proceed with his plan, which was half-heartedly made in the first place, but hardened his resolve when he saw her burst out into a genuine laughter.

Ah yes, shove her into a pirate ship and see where it would take her was clearly the best course of action, if he says so himself. Of course, her overprotective guardian might have a few things to say about that.

"You did _what?!" _

Maybe a little more than few.

"I sent her off with a pirate," he repeated, relaxing down in his chair. It should be considered lucky that the famous swordsman was no where near where he was, but really that just gave him plenty of time to consider jumping into Laboon to hide for the rest of his days. "She's in good hands."

"She's in the hands of a pirate," the voice hissed out, and it was a bit strange to see such venom from a snail, but there were worse things he could deal with. Like the man personally. "_A pirate._ What made you think that was a good idea?" Apparently Hawk-Eyes was a bit more angry than he thought...this might end badly. And here he thought this brat would be thankful for letting Eleison spread her wings.

"She'll be fine. The boy-"

"You sent her off with a boy." It didn't even sound like a question at this point, but a written invitation to go tear apart the mentioned boy. For some reason, it felt like Crocus just sealed the poor soul's fate. "What is his name. Who is this boy. Tell me where they are. **Now.**"

Probably did.

"She has to learn how to surpass her fears, Mihawk," Crocus explained, completely ignoring his other previous questions/demands. He sat down on his chair and watch the snail glare back at him, probably trying to murder him through intent alone. He actually might do it, at this rate. "It's no good if she stays scared to leave your side, and even she realized that."

"She had a _panic attack._ She's not ready; you had no right to push her to do so." Crocus could only sigh in response. That man really was way too overprotective over his niece-turned-daughter, who was a strong lady, he might add. It was almost endearing to hear the normally stoic man fret this much, despite knowing Eleison is more than capable of taking care of herself, barring the usual fears and whatnot. (Nightmares, panic attacks, the whole silver hair thing, nothing to be concerned about.) He waited to hear if the man was going to actually snap and take off and search the entire ocean for her, but instead heard loud shuffling noises and a distinct clinking noise.

Brat was pouring himself wine. At least that meant he was about to turn the ocean upside down anytime soon. At least not yet. But he'll count it as a win for now. Next to him (or in the ocean beside the cliff), Laboon bellowed in agreement before diving back down, probably for a nap. If only he could escape this conversation as easily as the Island Whale.

"I will end you." Crocus blinked as Mihawk began speaking again, and couldn't help but scoff at the impromptu threat. "Do not think I am joking. You purposely pushed my daughter to something she might not be ready for and had the audacity to feel pleased about it. I. Will. _**End.**_ **You.**" Crocus sighed again, scratching his beard as ideas of how to stave off the swordsman long enough for his idea to bear fruit. If only Minai was here to keep her 'way too serious' brother in check.

Good woman, that Minai.

"If she is not ready, she is free to leave the ship. The captain was an understanding lad, a good friend for her. May I remind you that she's been so scared to leave your side, she could count the amount of friends she has with one hand? This could be good for her. As her doctor, this is what I believe what is best for her as of right now." He could hear the swordsman hesitate from that thought, finally letting his genius plan sink in for good this time.

A long stretch of silence filled between them, and he knew that he's won this argument, not that the other man would ever admit it. There was a quiet, but definite click before the den den mushi closed it's eyes, signaling the end of the call.

He wasn't even surprised when the golden eyed man ended the call like that. No matter what people say, he still is a competitive sore loser who worries too much. Daughter like father, to the end.

* * *

Mihawk was slightly concerned. Only slightly. Of course, taking the time to think up of all the horrible scenarios his dear child might have to face, ranging from marines to nightmares, might not be the best idea. But then again, nothing short from an Admiral could actually stop her if she tried, but the ocean is vast, and the marines are idiots. Especially that Garp, or Akainu. Especially that Garp.

His fingers twitched to pour himself his seventh glass of wine of the day. He knew it was a bad idea (because drunk sailing was something we will _never_ do again, goddammit Shanks), and could hear Eleison's reprimanding voice already. And its only been a few hours since that old bastard potentially traumatized his daughter.

_Puru Puru Puru_

Mihawk blinked a few times, shaking out of his thoughts and looked over to his Den Den Mushi. He sighed and picked up the receiver, expecting Shanks to still have the worst timing in all of Grand Line and invite him to a party or something, despite turning him down -hanging up on him- so many times already.

"What." He really didn't have time for this.

"Ah, father? I'm sure Crocus has already told you…" He immediately sat up, almost upsetting his wine in his haste. "But I'm sure he left out basically everything." She sounded fine, but that was to be expected. Her ability to pretend is much too perfect for his liking.

"You are no bother to me, Eleison. If you do not wish to go with them, you should return," he said softly, jumping straight to the point. He learned from past experience that if given the chance, Eleison will do almost about anything to run on a tangent to get away from a subject.

He heard a small hitch in her breath and quiet shuffling noise and a quiet creak, as if she just sat down on a bed. "There is no need to force yourself." A surprisingly comfortable silence filled in between them as he waited for her answer. His heart clenched at the thought of Eleison forcing herself away from his side out of fear of abandonment, despite so many reassurances he's given her.

He blames this entire problem on Shanks; why that man thought it was a good idea to (firstly) tell her all about his dear, departed sister and brother-in-law, and then compare his affections to alcohol is beyond him.

"It's just…" He quickly snapped his focus back to his daughter, momentarily stopping his cursings for Shanks. This was much more important than that stupid red-head. "I know I'm weak, especially because of this. And I want to do my parents proud, and live up to their legacy and everything. I know it's a dumb thing to want, and I know that being scared of you no longer wanting to be my father is an even dumber thing to believe, but I want to do you proud, too."

He couldn't help feeling that surge of pride that followed her words that were getting quieter and quieter by the time she reached the last word, like she was unsure that this was something allowed to want. No one can blame him, they don't have a perfect daughter like he does. His beautiful little girl will be the death to all of Grand Line.

"I am proud of you. Your mother and father would have been proud of you. And I may not be your biological father, but I will always be your father. That is my choice, and it will remain that way." He suddenly felt a loss of what to do or what to say. The idea of comforting someone is a challenge in itself, much less the actual action. And that was painfully evident in Eleison's upbringing, he was even incapable of reassuring his own daughter of her fears, and now, seven years later, the same fears still plague them daily.

Minai would have handled this so much better. Hell, Irin would've (probably) done better than him, although it hurts to admit that.

They sat on either side of the call for a few more minutes, waiting for the other to break the silence, when Mihawk heard a muffled voice on Eleison's side. After a few seconds of conversation, and realized that the person she was talking to was probably the same boy Crocus was referring to.

He felt a sudden urge to demand to talk to this brat, but thought better of it. Knowing his daughter and her unnecessary fear of causing him trouble, she probably hasn't told her friend anything about how her father is a Warlord. He continued listening with idle interest, choosing the time to pour himself another glass of wine, feeling like he's deserved a reward for not tearing down the ocean to kill a certain man. It was after he heard a sharp thud and a familiar squeak did he snap back into attention.

"Eleison? What happened?" He stood up, ready to spring out and towards his boat and sail down the Grand Line, studiously ignoring the fact it'll probably still take him months to reach where she is.

"Father, I'm fine. A- uh, the captain...has narcolepsy. He just fell asleep and I was a bit surprised because now he's sprawled over my lap, so I can't get up," Eleison quickly cut in, as if predicting he would have stormed out in a fury. She sounded resigned to this fate, but that did little to quell his worries. He was about to turn around and storm his way to the boat and then into the sea when her voice cut in again. "I'm serious. Please don't raise hell in the ocean again. You're mostly almost drunk, and I'm not close enough to fish you out of the sea, so please?"

He immediately froze at her words, thinking back to the last time that happened and the horrors that followed. He slowly sank down into his chair again and grumbled in acceptance, acknowledging that, no, it would be a bad idea to sail right now, especially since he's downed several glasses of wine already. Even from across the ocean, she still managed to sound reasonable and calm, although knowing her, it was most likely a facade for her panic and worries.

He heard her breathe a sigh of relief (that was completely uncalled for) and fumble for a bit more, most likely shifting to a better position with the unwanted added weight.

"I'll be with the crew for a while; I'm not sure how long I'll stay, but for now, I want to sail with them. I think it will help me...you know...stop being scared and be a little bit more free with myself? Something like that." Eleison sounded meek in her own reasonings, and Mihawk so desperately wanted to call her back to his side and tell her that forcing herself would do more damage than good, but he also knew that if he _did_ call her back, she might never 'stop being scared and be a little bit more free.' Her words, not his.

"You will keep in contact with me. Call at _least _twice, no, three times a month. And I want to know the ship you're sailing with. And the captain's name," Mihawk said, trying to think of more things to add to the requirements. Seventeen is too young to think about sex, right?

"I will call you, yes, but I won't give you the captain's name, because you will most definitely come like a fury and rip him into shreds," she countered. Mihawk winced at her chastising tone.

"I did that once," he muttered, grumbling in dissatisfaction at her refusal. It wasn't _that_ bad last time….

"You tried slicing off his arms and throwing him _into the Calm Belt_."

"At least I didn't threaten to cut his legs, too." For all he was concerned, it was perfectly reasonable. Cut off his arms, but he'd still have legs to swim. He would have turned out just fine if he was half the man he boasted.

"_Father!_" Eleison squeaked in protest, and he couldn't help but laugh at her response. Seventeen years, and yet to grow out of the squeak. It will be dearly missed when she does, though.

"I am joking. Although I am concerned." He frowned, realizing that this should have been addressed first and foremost. It was extremely important, too. How could have he forgotten? "How will I get my red wine?"

He probably deserved the calm threat of buying nothing but soda for the next decade, but it was worth it. After a few more curses and 'I should just buy Shanks beer with your money, and leave you to suffer' retorts, he allowed himself to relax as his daughter ranted on, all worries and troubles settling away like the sun.

* * *

**How was that? Long enough? Awkward transitions? Have no clue what just happened (yeah me either)? **

**L****et me know what you think!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**Alright, so apparently there are STILL a few questions unanswered, and so I'll just answer them here. **

**Yes she has nightmares about Mihawk (her dad) leaving or disappointed in her or feeling worthless. She ALSO knows that it's stupid to think all of that, but remember, she came to think this at the age of 10, and never got over it. So she has a (very) mild case of insomnia and anxiety, but yeah. That's what the medication is for. Otherwise she would have to wear herself out 24/7 and that's just exhausting.**

**This is the reason why she had a panic attack right before she went with the Spade Pirates. Exhaustion, lack of sleep, raising tensions, having a close friend near her age for once, stuff like that made it easy for her to lose that small bit of control she had. So think that she was already teetering off the cliff, and the question just pushed her off.**

**About her 'black hair by day, silver hair by night' thing. **_**It's genetic.**_ **She inherited that trait from her dad, and the 'Dracule Eyes' from the mom.**

**When I said 'give me ideas where the story could go', I meant how much of the storyline should I follow. Like, should Thatch die? Or should Ace get his ass handed to him by Teach? Should she meet the Straw Hats? Other Yonko? Marines?Should she form a more 'intimate' relationship with someone? Who? **

**Blahblah.**

**But yeah. Advice, reviews, favorites, follows are most welcomed. Thank you for being patient with me.**

**Don't own One Piece, just my character. **

* * *

When Ace first met Eleison, he admittedly thought she was probably one of those girls who smiled gently and giggled softly. The typical kind of cute. Like Makino! She had the look for it, with her midnight hair and eerie sharp yellow eyes (that reminded him of someone else but he just couldn't put his finger on it).

He was technically right.

She _did_ smile when she kicked him into the ocean, and _did_ giggle when he almost drowned, so it wasn't as if he was _wrong_, it was just that it wasn't the right kind of right. What was surprising was the amount of self-hatred she managed to hide on a daily basis.

In the too short week he's been camping out at the lighthouse, Eleison was quickly growing to become an irreplaceable friend. Which was strange, because the last time he has this kind of feeling was with Luffy and Sabo. The only notable difference is that she was a girl and twice as deadly as all of his brothers, including him, combined. Thankfully, she wasn't nearly as idiotic as Luffy. Having one younger brother was tiring enough.

It was a nice feeling. Scary, but nice.

And when Crocus made the (not so subtle) suggestion that he should take her with him, maybe not as a pirate, but as a friend, he couldn't help but jump at that chance. Passing up that opportunity would be stupid, and despite what people think, Ace was not stupid. On a good day, at least.

Even if it's for a little while, it would be good to have a decent navigator. Not saying his own navigator is bad, but he is a doctor. Navigation isn't his forte, either. And maybe he could convince her to join during the trip!

When he actually got around to asking right before they left, he was not expecting that panic attack. He completely underestimated just how much shackled herself down, and for some reason that only made him want to bring her aboard even more.

And hoping to fix her heart would be an impossible feat, but at least she'll have someone who knows self-hatred as much as she does, if not more. That's what probably solidified their friendship: how much they hate themselves.

"Are you done staring wistfully at the ocean?" Ace turned from where he was standing on the railing, looking over his shoulder to see Eleison stand behind him with a hand cocked on her hip.

It's already been a few months since they traveled together, and needless to say, it was filled with wild adventures he never believed were true. He thought she made up half those stories and exaggerated the other half, but after that winter island with the man-eating snowmen, he never questioned her again.

So far they jumped island to island to island, and it seems like each time they landed, his bounty went up. Which was pretty awesome, if he says so himself. Eleison was just being a worrying kill-joy (or killer), groaning about idiots and stupid pirates and whatever. Although she did have a good time beating up a ton of pirates and marines, for some reason. He doesn't question it, as long as it's not him.

Sabo would have loved this. Luffy is definitely going to love being a pirate. That small thought of his younger brother brought a quirk to his lips and a sad frown about Sabo. He wish he could take her to meet them, especially Sabo, if he was still alive. Those two would have probably hit it off and-

A sharp pain erupted from his forehead, and he cried out in shock and looked up at a fuming Eleison. He glanced down at her hand and saw the blacken sheen slowly fade out into her normal milky skin. She freaking smacked his head with Haki.

"You're doing that 'I'm thinking about sad things' face," she huffed, raising another threatening hand to smack him hard enough to send him flying into the ocean. Always a fan favorite of beating the problem out. Such a good friend, honestly.

He raised his hands in front of him as a barrier, hoping to keep her at bay long enough for her to calm down. "Haha, of course not!" She quirked an eyebrow and he avoided her eyes. It kind of scared him when she focused on him like that. "Did something happen?" She rolled her eyes at him and turned around without giving him an answer, instead beckoning him to follow her back to the main deck. Ace fell into step beside her, still trying to extract answers without losing any limbs.

"Yeah, something happened. But might as well say it to the rest of the crew, right?" she finally replied. That was only slightly worrisome; what was so important that needed the entire crew to know? Is the next island something so dangerous that she has to warn them beforehand?

Normally she wouldn't say anything, something about 'joy of finding the secrets of the new island' or 'the joy of adventure.'

So of course it just made him even more antsy. Last time she withheld information, he was hunted down my midget cannibals. That trauma will forever scar him, but at least he was literally made of fire so he still had all his...intimate parts.

They rounded up to the deck where the rest of the crew was waiting, anxious themselves. After a few minutes of stark silence and a random cough, Ace couldn't bear the tension anymore.

"What's going on? Sion!" She only turned to smirk mischievously before taking a few steps back and snapped her fingers. It was apparently some signal, because they suddenly started bustling around, like they were going to abandon ship. He wasn't that bad of a captain, right?

"What the he-"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAPTAIN!" The whole crew cheered loudly and pulled out various cakes and pastries and meat and gifts seemingly out of no where and surrounded him with their own triumphant grins. Then it was too obvious to miss. They planned a birthday party for him.

"W-What? But I never told you my birthday!" Ace said, gaping at each and every one of them. The day was even wrong, but that would be obvious; what are the chances of choosing the right day out of 365 days? They just kept grinning and started pulling him towards the center where most of the food was being stationed.

"Yeah. We didn't know your real birthday, but we thought it was high time we celebrated _a_ birthday. It's the sea, after all!" one of his crewmates explained, handing him a large piece of meat. His mouth watered at the smell, but immediately snapped his mouth shut and looked over at Eleison, her warnings about how the ocean could just open up and swallow you playing in his head. She smiled at him and waved him off, mouthing 'don't worry, I'll take care of it'', and walked off with a piece of cake and a bottle of sake. "Let's party!"

That was all the reason Ace needed; he burst into laughter and began to devour everything in sight. Not to be outdone, his crew quickly joined in for a piece of something (if they're lucky) and it turned into a huge food fight, a battle for the goods. Like always.

Best crew ever.

* * *

There are no words Ace could give to explain just how happy he is. The day went from nice to great to amazing ever since he woke up from his narcolepsy nap that morning. The "birthday party" went surprisingly well without any interruptions, a miracle out in the Grand Line. He fully expected a hurricane complete with acid rain and serpentine currents to hail down with Marines looming over the horizon as icing on the cake, but apparently Eleison wasn't kidding when she said she'd take care of it. Not that he had any doubt that she could. It was just a little shocking she managed to find an uninhabited island so easily, but then again, she's done more impossible things before.

Like that one technique she learned recently...Moon Walk, or something.

He really wished she taught him that.

Ace was leaning on the railing of his ship, watching the sun lazily float above the horizon. The party was long done and his entire crew knocked out from the alcohol, most passed out on the deck accompanied with loud snores. He briefly wonders if it was physically possible for him to get drunk, since it literally burns out of his system the second he gulps it down. He should ask Eleison when he gets the chance, she probably knows.

The list of strange, obscure things she does know grows seemingly larger by the hour. That should be a sign of concern, but whatever.

Ace wondered if it was a good idea to tell her about his cursed blood. He was already considering confessing, but wasn't sure if she'll react badly or not. He can't imagine any other way she could respond. The only person who didn't hate him for who he was is his brothers.

"I'm getting a sense of deja vu," an amused voice said from behind him. He quickly turned around to see Eleison walking towards him, a bottle of alcohol in hand. She didn't look very drunk, but then again, Sion was good at pretending otherwise. "Except I didn't hit you this time. Shame." He rubbed the back of his head at that memory, and for a split second, he could almost feel the painful smack echoing in his skull, and shuddered. Eleison laughed and beckoned him to follow her off the ship and onto the island. He watched her jump over the railing and land on the sand below before following. He put a hand on his hat to keep it on and landed next to her.

The two walked side by side, neither offering up a conversation to fill the comfortable silence that hovered between them. Ace wondered if she planned this entire party, down to the very last drunken pirate.

"What were you thinking about?" Her voice was barely louder than a murmur, and if he wasn't standing next to her, there was no way he would have heard her. He glanced over to his left, briefly watching Eleison stare out into the sea with pensive eyes, before turning back to stare at the endless stretch of sand again.

"Just thinking about today. Thanks for this, by the way. It was...it was amazing." It still feels like a distant dream, even though the party only ended mere hours ago.

"Don't mention it," she replied easily, reaching over and flicking him on the forehead. He laughed and slung his arm over her shoulder, pulling her close to his side and she settled in naturally, as if falling into place.

He thought about it sometimes. The two of them, sailing the oceans together, becoming legends together. They fit each other so well, it's hard not to imagine that kind of future. Not even the idea of Pirate King and obtaining One Piece seem so far fetched in comparison.

But he rather keep their friendship than risk love. Besides, there's no telling how she would react when she finds out he's nothing more than a demon who shouldn't be allowed to live.

Besides, it wouldn't be the same if they were in love. Their easy companionship and mutual understanding would crumble under that kind of burden. No, he was satisfied with the friendship. Looking at her now, she was a lot like Sabo, as he was his best friend, and so is she. Dating Sion would be like dating Sabo, and that just brought cringe worthy images.

"I'm not thinking of sad things," he assured, pulling her closer. "No need to hit me." She scoffed and pushed him down onto the sand and shoved her way in front of him, forcing him to make room and wrap both his arms around her. He laughed as she got comfortable, watching with a grin as she let out a sigh of content when she was fully situated. They sat there for a long while in comfortable silence, long enough for the sun to disappear, just watching the waves ebb away and back. In the far back of his mind, he wondered why she hasn't run off yet; normally by now the golden-eyed girl would demand to stow herself away in isolation before the sun even touched the ocean, but Ace couldn't complain.

Maybe it was a sign.

"Hey, Eleison. I wanna ask you something," Ace said, breaking the calm atmosphere. He slowly exhaled, tightening his hands into fist to pretend that he wasn't shaking from fear of being rejected. "If Gold Roger had a son...what would you do?" Eleison shifted around, turning her head to peer quizzically over her shoulder at Ace.

For a few seconds, only silence was his answer. "That's an odd question," she finally commented. She sighed and turned back around, staring once more at the calm sea.

"If I knew Gold Roger had a son...I wouldn't question it."

Ace blinked in surprise at her answer before grabbing her by the shoulders, urging her to turn around to look at him in the face. That wasn't something he was expecting to hear. Hell, he didn't even understand what that implied. Eleison rolled her eyes and flicked his forehead with that fond, exasperated look that he's long associated with 'you're an adorable stupid idiot, but it's okay because I find it amusing'.

"What I mean is that I wouldn't really care. It's not my problem who the Pirate King decides to stick his dick in." Ace winced. "And it's not like what his father did defines who he is. That would be stupid," Eleison continued nonchalantly, completely oblivious to the look of conflicted happiness on Ace's face. "Why do you ask?"

He almost wished she didn't ask that, but there was no way Eleison was that dimwitted to not connect the dots (like Luffy, bless his stupidity), and briefly considered that maybe she had hope that he wasn't a demon child, and his heart sank at that thought. He didn't want to lose one of his closest friends he's had in a long time. Luffy may be his little brother, and Sabo is his best friend and brother, but Eleison is a close second.

Ace contemplated just not answering and changing the subject, but he knew Eleison probably wouldn't take that well. She would most likely throw him into the ocean if he tried that.

"I have to tell you something," Ace said as he slowly pulled away from Eleison, taking the warmth with him. He took a deep breath, bracing himself for the inevitable backlash, and spoke his greatest secret.

"It's me. I'm Gold Roger's son."

He waited for the yelling, the look of betrayal, the utter shock, the _something_, but all Eleison did was blankly stared back. Hell if anything, she looked utterly unimpressed. It was making Ace fidgety, waiting for her to say something. When she still didn't say anything, he couldn't help but break the silence.

"U-Uh. Eleison? I'm sor-"

"Dracule Mihawk is my father." Wait, what?

Ace blinked at the sudden confession, thinking he only imagined hearing that since Eleison hasn't even moved, let alone twitched. If he didn't see her lips move, he would have passed it off as a hallucination. He opened his mouth to say something, but she just barreled on.

"My mother was his sister, so after my parents died, he took me in. I am the adopted daughter of a Warlord and the strongest swordsman in the world," she continued, saying it so nonchalantly like she was discussing the weather. "My mother's name is Dracule Minai and my father is Silas Irin. According to Shanks, yes one of the Four Emperors, they were known to terrorized the seas and cause havoc among both Marines and pirates. Don't get me started on the stories I've heard when my mother was menstruating."

"W-Wait, Sion, slow down," Ace pleaded helplessly, raising his hands up in front of him. Eleison paid no heed to his plea, but instead turned around and swung her legs over his and pushed him onto the sand, straddling his hips to keep him pinned down. "W-Wha-"

"I think it's about time, coincidentally," she said offhandedly, taking the time to pat the dust off her legs and off his chest. Ace stared back up at her in gaping shock, not exactly sure how to respond to this new turn of events. This wasn't going how he thought at all. Suddenly, his whole 'I have evil blood in me' confession turned into 'by the way my dad's a Warlord' one. Was she trying to one-up him?!

"U-Uh. Time for what?" Ace asked hesitantly, his mind still reeling from the overflow of information. Eleison was the daughter of a warlord. Her parents are dead. But they were amazing. He couldn't make heads or tails from anything anymore.

"I didn't really plan to tell you this way, although I did plan to tell you today. I actually wanted to beat you up first, then tell you, so that way maybe there was a chance you thought this whole conversation would be a dream. This works, too, I guess." Despite what just happened in about five minutes, she was so calm. Practically the complete opposite of him. What would he give to be all calm and suave like that.

She idly twirled her hair around her finger, falling silent for a moment, but long enough to have Ace antsy again.

"Ah, there we go." Ace's eyes focused on the lock of hair in her hand and nearly choked on his own saliva in shock. There's no way that's possible.

The Grand Line is strange, _not magical._

"YOUR HA-" Eleison slapped a hand over his mouth and the rest of his words were muffled by her palm. Ace stared in amazement as slowly, but surely, Eleison's hair faded from pitch black to silvery white in a matter of minutes.

"I got this trait from my biological father. My hair is naturally white, but apparently under the sun, it absorbs the sunlight and turns black. After about an hour or so after the sun sets, my hair eventually fades back to white. Artificial light can temporarily turn my hair black, too, but that's only if I'm under the light. I'm not so sure about the specifics, but that's the gist of it." Ace felt all his questions were getting answered, only to give spawn to more questions. It was a vicious, painful cycle and he almost thought about burying his head in the sand to slow down the information intake. "On the wanted posters, I was nicknamed 'Guillotine' which I think is entirely stupid, because I _don't freaking behead people what the fuck Marines._ But yeah, that's why I stay in during the night. I couldn't risk you all finding out my relations to my father and my previous nightly activities."

_Wait, what?_

Ace stared up at Eleison with a whole new perspective. He wasn't exactly sure to either be amazed about her 'lineage' or completely horrified that she was 'the Guillotine'. He's heard nasty rumors about the the 'mass murderer'; there's gossip whispering how the ghost single handedly brought down a nation to it's knees and tore down Marine strongholds like they were made of paper, and didn't believe a single word of it. But now knowing that this 'ghost executor' was Eleison, all those stories might actually be true.

Ace audibly swallowed before addressing his final question (for now). "And is it okay for you to tell me this?" The last time either of them made a passing mention of this kind of thing was right before Eleison joined them. When she had a panic attack.

Eleison suddenly looked exhausted. He felt a pang of worry for his friend; she wasn't the type to make rash choices, but there's a first for everything.

"I don't have a problem telling you this, because you're not the kind of asshole who would broadcast it to the world. And if you are because I misjudged you, I'll just drown you with just a tiny bit of regret."

She lifted her hand and stuck her index finger and thumb out, showing just how much regret she'd be feeling, and squinted at the space between her fingers, like it was so miniscule she could barely see that space.

Ace laughed a little hysterically, trying his best to sort out the new information in his head and considered it easier to just suffocate himself in the sand

"To be honest, I thought you were going to hate me when I told you," Ace said sheepishly after the laughter died down. He raised his hand to scratch the back of his head as if that could hide the embarrassment.

Eleison rolled her eyes and flicked his forehead, for the 3rd (or was it 4th?) time that day. "How shallow do you think I am? I should throw you into the ocean and watch you drown."

Suddenly it felt like the depressing atmosphere lifted along with her (probably) empty threats, and Ace laughed again, feeling a bit lighter than he has in the past few years.

"Hey! I got stronger, I could probably stop you!" he joked, reaching up and pinching her nose. He knew she could beat him with her hands tied behind her back, blindfolded, and chained to the spot, but it felt great just saying his hopes. But when she narrowed her eyes and her small smile turned feral, and Ace felt shivers run down his spine. Flashbacks from the last 'feral smile' had him quivering under her gaze, and he had a dawning feeling that this might not end well. She stood up and waited for him to slowly rise on his own feet, that dangerous smile never leaving.

"Okay. Because it's still technically your 'birthday', I'll give you a five second head start."

Oh shit.

"W-Wait, come on. N-No need-"

"_One."_

Oh fucking shit.

Ace turned around and, for the lack of a better phrase, ran like fuck, not even daring to look back in fear of slowing down. He could hear Eleison's ringing laughter follow him, and he could admit it with his dignity and pride fully intact that it scared the fucking shit out of him. There is absolutely no shame in running away in fear from those daggers (or, god forbid, _the sword)_ of hers.

And if he screamed a little when he heard her _giggle_, he will go down believing it was a manly scream.

* * *

Eleison laughed as she watched Ace sprint away, fire trails blazing after him with the sand kicking up to create a nice dusty cloud in his wake.

The day went as well as she hoped, if not better, with all the confessions that came out that night. It felt like the burden of those secrets evaporated into the sky, and it was relieving, much more than she thought possible. Ace was too good for her, really.

The whole 'Gold Roger's son' was a bit of a surprise, but it all clicked together with Shanks' stories. Especially the stories about Luffy. Even then, she should've made the connection the first time she saw Ace devour a meal big enough to feed a small army. As much as it hurt Ace to know, he is a lot like his father, more than he would ever want.

Ace had taken the whole 'by the way my dad's a Warlord' thing pretty well. He only panicked a little with some shocked yells and a little bit of jaw dropping. If anything, Eleison blamed the alcohol she had for being nonchalant about the situation (even if she wasn't drunk at all), and then briefly wondered if Ace could get drunk, since it probably just burns right out of his system. She tried holding back her laughter at the thought of a drunk Ace, but a short, hysterical laughter left her lips.

"AIEEEEEEE!" Ace ran even faster, disappearing behind a cloud of dust and fire. Eleison blinked in surprise at that amazing girly scream, before doubling over in laughter again. When she finally regained her composure, she took a deep breath before smiling in the direction Ace disappeared in.

"Ahh, well. That as about 5 seconds, right?" she yelled after him, wondering if her voice carried far enough to scare Ace.

Eleison knelt down on one knee, her hands brushing the sand with gentle fingers before closing her eyes. She dug her foot down into the sand, ready to launch herself into the air.

For once, she's glad to have fought those Marines a few islands ago. Moon Walk equipped with her Haki is devastating as it was dangerous. Most Marines that know the technique can't do much other than literally walk in the air, but she's practiced enough to be able to fly over islands and oceans.

It was exhilarating.

She pushed off the ground, the sand flying out like a blooming flower as she spiraled up into the air. She kicked off nothing and sent herself flying forward and far, quickly gaining on Ace who was still running like his life depended on it.

"Ready or not, here I come~" Eleison singsonged, kicking off again and in two steps, caught up to Ace. Below, Ace let out another scream before tripping into the sand, face planting down and probably having the grains swim up his nose. She almost fell out of the sky when she saw him splutter back up with a new sand moustache clinging to his face, but composed herself long enough to launched back down onto the shore, causing a shockwave to bury Ace in a small mountain of sand and stood up, brushing the lingering dust off her shirt. She walked closer to where Ace was buried when he finally popped out of sand, the grains flowing out of his mouth like a sand waterfall.

"Bleurgh! W-Wait, Sion, I was just joking! See, haha! I'm laughing! Just a joke!"

Eleison rolled her eyes but never stopped her pace until she was standing in front of him. Or, well. Where he was sprawled out on the ground. She offered her hand and with only a hesitant and wary look, Ace grabbed it and hauled himself up, shaking himself free from the sand.

"I never gave you your birthday gift."

Ace snapped his head up, and he looked so horrified it felt like she unknowingly killed his puppy or something equally soul wrenching. Eleison laughed before patting his cheek, clearly amused with his horror. She wanted to do something horrible just because his face looked _hilarious_, but thought better. There really was a gift she wanted to give. Especially before they enter the New World.

"I'll teach you Haki."

* * *

Ace felt like every bone and muscle in his body was shattered, ripped apart, turned to mush, and then some. He couldn't feel anything, down to every nerve in his body and the tips of his hairs, but for some reason he could feel pain stabbing him _everywhere_. It fucking _hurt._

He couldn't believe he was so excited when that devil incarnate said she was going to teach him Haki; it felt more like she was seeing how close she could beat him to death.

_With her sword. _

It was the one time, and hopefully the only time, he's ever seen her use her sword.

'_I don't use my sword a lot, because even when I try to limit my Haki to the very least amount of strength possible, it's still extremely destructive and hard to control. You'll be fine, though!'_

Fine, his fiery ass.

It's only been a few hours since they started fighting (if he could call it that), but he's never been so badly and thoroughly beaten before. It stung his pride a bit, but he always knew Eleison was leagues away from his own power. If this was the strength of the New World, he's going to have to step up his game.

"Hey, hey. Get up or I'll seriously kill you." He felt something tapping the back of his head, and he mustered all of his strength just to turn his head to see the tip of her sword mere inches from his face, and gritted his teeth in frustration at his own weakness.

He tried pushing himself up onto his feet, but could barely get his hands under him. It wasn't physically possible to lift a finger, let alone start fighting again. Eleison sighed and sheathed her sword, signaling the end of the 'lesson', and nudged him over with his foot until he rolled over onto his back.

"Ah, well. I guess I went a little overboard." He eyed her warily with lidded eyes as she sat down next to him, only stopping to scoop up his cowboy hat and plopping it down on her head. "You okay?"

'_A little? _You're joking with me,' Ace thought miserably, feeling even worse than before. She didn't even look tired. Even while they were fighting, she only seemed to be enjoying it because she was literally handing his own ass to him. Some birthday gift.

Ace groaned in response to her question, shuffling to turn his head away to stare at the ocean instead. Out in the distance, he could barely see the faint silhouette of his ship, where his crew was soundly sleeping. He was only a bit surprised that none of them woke up, but they were drunk past death. Nothing short of the apocalypse would wake them.

"But on the other hand, now you know what Haki can do; you'll be able to do Haki in no time. You already do it unconsciously, so that's a really good start. Don't worry about your pride, I had a bunch of crazy people as my mentors, after all."

'You could've mentioned that you also have one hell of a crazy Haki,' he thought tiredly. There was no way anyone can do the amount of destruction. And then Eleison just comes swinging her sword and nearly splits the island in half. This was the power of the New World, since according to Eleison, she doesn't even hold a candle to the Emperors, who could actually split islands and skies and god knows what else in half.

He closed his eyes in exhaustion, pulling up memories from the fight that happened only moments ago. Just like the party, it felt like the last few hours were just a passing nightmare, but his injuries say otherwise.

"Ace." He was broken out of his thoughts when her soft voice called out his name. He turned back to her, just in time to see her hand reach out and brush his hair out of the way. "Thank you."

He grinned back at her and closed his eyes, enjoying the moment of peace that was hard to find on his ship. She didn't tell him exactly why the sudden gratitude, but he had a feeling. "No problem. We're friends, after all."

Without realizing it, he thought back to his earlier musings about him and Sion, how different it would be if they were in love. There was no way it would be the same, even after realizing she didn't care about his evil blood.

Luffy and Sabo are his precious brothers, but Sion is his irreplaceable best friend. And maybe that was enough.

"You have such a dopey face on," Eleison laughed. He blinked a few times, getting back to reality before laughing himself. He must have had that dreamy smile he always has when he thinks about the past. About Luffy. About Sabo. He can't refute that he is a bit dopey.

"You always say I am a dope," he agreed with a grin. He twitched his fingers, the feeling finally coming back to his arms and legs. After considerable effort, he managed to prop himself up by his elbows, and eventually sitting up next to Eleison. He was still exhausted from the earlier fight, and he started to feel a bit drowsy as the adrenaline completely left his system.

"I believe my exact words are 'you are a pyromaniac dumbo and I will wipe that dopey smile right off your face by scraping it on the floor," Eleison replied, but it sounded muffled to his ears. His eyes started drooping, the scenery in front of him narrowing down to tiny slits of the ocean. He felt a hand come up and brush his hair, pushing his head down to lean more on the petite girl's shoulder. "Sleep. Your pirate adventure can wait for tomorrow."

No adventure waits for a pirate, but a little nap never hurt anyone.

* * *

**Tell me what you think! If there's any questions, specific or general, ask away. I need as much experience as possible to work faster! **

**Until next time~**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**Wow. Finals. Um. Wow. **

**Anyway, sorry for taking so long haha; thank you all for the reviews and favorites, and follows! If you have any advice for me, smack me with it. With love. **

**If you have any questions because of some confusion, ask away! **

**I do not own One Piece, only my own character**

* * *

Ace stood at the head of the ship, eagerly waiting for Shabondy Archipelago to drift into view and mark his journey of halfway through the world.

The mark that he's succeeded in sailing half of the Grand Line, and halfway to One Piece

Halfway until becoming the Pirate King.

It's only been a few months since he first entered the Grand Line with his crew and Eleison, and every second of it was an adventure in it's own right. He's battled cannibalistic snowmen, midget cannibals, power hungry Marines, idiot new pirates, and other strange, questionable things, and came out on top each and every time, growing stronger and stronger with every time they landed, maybe even every time he's sparred with Eleison.

When he finally saw the towering grooves and rising bubbles, Ace couldn't contain his excitement as he tumbled down the figure head, screaming at the top of his lungs for his crew.

"I SEE IT! WE'RE FINALLY HERE, GUYS!"

The answering cheers had pride swell up inside his chest and maybe a single manly tear might have fallen, but he admits nothing. He watched his crew dance around, some having twin tear streaks running down their cheeks, others drinking to the memorable occasion, to which he may have joined in on, others actually down on their knees in prayer.

"Congratulations, I knew you could do it." Ace quickly turned around to see Eleison smiling at him. His own answering grin was actually hurting to stretch across the face, but he couldn't find it in him to tone it down at all.

Ever since that 'birthday party', Eleison has taken on teaching him Haki, and he had the bare basics down, enough to attack a Logia at the very least. Compared to Eleison, though, it was like barely learning how to crawl. Despite that, he was proud of his progress, and even though she didn't say it, he would bet his hat that she was proud, too. The whole confession thing turned out to be one of the best choices he made, because not only he got to learn Haki and deepened their trust, he finally gets to see the beautiful cascade of silvery hair that Eleison hidden away. And it was _beautiful._

He _almost_ regrets only wanting her as a friend. _Almost. _

Luffy would come after his soul otherwise.

"Thanks. We couldn't have done it without you," Ace replied with gratitude, his unfaltering grin growing impossibly wider. Eleison quirked her own small smile before walking up the deck, watching his crew with mild interest as some actually fell overboard in their excitement. He expected her to keep watching them with her small amused smile, or to join in the merry laughter, or walk away to sleep on the other side of the ship.

What he did not expect was her to unleash a soul crushing pressure on the crew.

"This is important, so I really need you to listen," Eleison said after everyone froze in fear. On the short time she's been with them, Eleison made sure that when she wanted to be heard, _she will be heard._ On the downside, Ace doesn't think his crew (or himself for any matter) will ever be able to forget _that _moment for as long as they live. There wasn't enough words in the world to describe how terrified they were after the first incident. "You must promise me that you'll follow everything I say _to the letter._ No trying to find loopholes, no 'my pride is at stake' bullshit, no 'accidentally' doing otherwise. Understand?"

The Spade Pirates' mood quickly went from joyful to sullen as they slowly crowded around her, waiting to hear what was so important to cut in their merry fun.

"One: You will not, under no circumstances whatsoever, _cause a scene._" A pointed glance was thrown at Ace, who dignified a sheepish 'what can I do' look. "Two: If you see someone die in front of you, _you will not help them._" This garnered sparking yells of protest, but was immediately silenced by her glare. "Three: If you see some weird looking guys with some kind of bubbles over their heads, no matter how annoying they are, no matter how much they piss you off, you do not get in their way. I don't care if they shoot the person next to you, you keep your head bowed and do not make eye contact."

Ace couldn't believe what he was hearing, and from the looks of his crew's faces, they couldn't either... He knew Eleison could be a sadist if the situation called for it, but this was hea-

"And before any of you think that I'm a cruel, sadistic bitch to have ever sailed on the seas for telling you this, which I can already see on many of your faces, let me explain." Eleison sighed and rubbed the back of her head, suddenly looking much more tired than before.

"Please tell me you know about the Celestial Dragons." Ace blankly stared at her questioning gaze, trying to remember where he heard that title. When Eleison sighed again and slapped her hand to her forehead, it was obvious that none of his crew knew either. "Okay. To make a long story short, if you fuck with them, they fuck you up with a thousand Marines and an Admiral. You don't want to mess with them. _Do I make myself clear?"_

Ace paled at her words. An _Admiral?_ That's a higher ranking than Gramps! Even Eleison wouldn't be able to hold up against him.

"A-Aye…" The crew could barely utter their agreement, still a bit shocked about this new information. Which is surprising; you would think, after sailing with her for so long, you'd know when she's going to drop a bomb like that on you.

Guess not.

"Great. Anyway, there is a park here. You guys should check it out!" And just like the bubble popping up in the air, the crew shouted in approval and ran around to dock the ship at one of the grooves. Ace watched Eleison slip through the stampeding pirates like water, flowing by until she made it to the edge, and jumped off the ship and landed on the island with a small stumble.

"Oh captain my captain, accompany me on this grandiose adventure across the Island of Bubbles. Your merry band of pirates can amuse themselves," she called over her shoulder, already walking away. She sounded so serious, Ace couldn't help but laughing before jumping off the ship after making sure his crew had everything handled and yelling out a few orders, and caught up to his friend.

"Where we heading off to?" he asked as he slipped his hands into his pockets, watching with mild awe as bubbles slowly oozed out of the ground.

"The next island you need to get to is Fishman Island, and we'll need a coater for that," she half-explained. Although he didn't understand what she was referring to (_coater?), _he still followed her lead to a more deserted groove. "I came here a few times with Shanks. One time, we met this old nice man that Shanks knew, and after a few minutes of eavesdropping, I learned he was working as a coater. I got so excited, I spat my juice on Shanks so I could ask him what 'coating' was."

"You spat your juice out on an _Emperor_," Ace repeated, looking at Eleison with disbelief. "Because you wanted to ask him about _coating._"

"Alright, when you say it like that, it makes it sound stupid. I was twelve, I was curious about everything, okay?" she defended herself, turning to glare (but it looked more like a pout with her blushing like that) at Ace when he started laughing. He couldn't help it. The image of a doe-eyed curious-about-everything Eleison was just too hilarious.

"S-Sorry," he gasped out after she fully stopped to pout, her red tinted cheeks slightly puffed out. He straightened up and coughed into his fist for good measure. "So you know Shanks?" Eleison raised an eyebrow at him, but started walking again.

"Yeah. Imagine my surprise when father and I came for a visit only to find his left arm missing. Imagine my greater surprise when the same dopey kid he told stories about was your same dopey brother. Is it true he stabbed himself under his eye to 'prove his worth'?"

Ace laughed, a fond grin working it's way up at the memory of his little brother. "Got a scar for it too. Makes him look about two percent badass. The last ninety-eight percent is, unfortunately, stupidity and airheadedness."

"Sounds like fun. I can't wait until he starts sailing; do you think I can traumatize him as easily as I did you?"

Ace shuddered. "Please don't ruin his long awaited pirate adventure," he only half joked. The other half was silently begging that she won't actually follow through with that idea. Eleison laughed and hooked her arm around his, pulling him closer to her side.

"I'm kidding. I wouldn't touch your brother complex with a ten foot pole." Ace spluttered in protest, stopping to claim denial with unconvincing redden cheeks and flailing limbs. "Here we are."

Ace looked up at the shoddy sign. "Shakky's Rip Off Bar. For some reason, don't know why, but this doesn't look very…." Ace trailed off, not sure how to finish the sentence without sounding skeptical.

"Shakky's nice. Just don't ask how old she is, and maybe, just maybe, you'll get out with all ten fingers intact," Eleison replied, moving forward and pushing the door open, leaving Ace to either stand at the door and shuffle around awkwardly or fuck it all and follow her. After a few more seconds of debate, he walked in after her. He looked around at the completely empty bar, wondering who this 'Shakky' person is.

"Oh? Is that you, Sion?" His eyes snapped to the bar and saw a woman leaning over her counter with a cigarette and an amused smile. Eleison returned the smile and walked closer, taking a seat at the bar before motioning Ace to sit next to her, which he complied with only minimal confusion and hesitation.

"Hi Shakky, I brought a friend, if that's okay." The woman laughed before turning around and grabbing a bottle and two cups.

"Any friend of yours is a friend of mine. Although I am a bit surprised that I didn't manage to hear that you were traveling with the infamous super rookie, Fire Fist Ace," she replied, turning back around and filling the cups up.

"I took many, _many_, precautions to not get caught. I was never one to cause loud, obvious trouble, after all," Eleison replied, picking up a cup and greedily downing it. Ace eyed his own cup warily before taking a small sip, still unsure what to say.

"No, just loud, subtle trouble," Shakky teased. Ace shuddered, knowing that most of the 'loud, subtle trouble was at his expense and trauma. "So Fire Fist Ace. I've heard a lot about you."

"Nice to meet you," he replied politely, offering his own trademark grin that was sure to win over ladies and hopefully not a beat down. Anyone associated with Eleison is most likely to respond like that.

"Ooh, polite, isn't he?" Shakky replied with barely disguised mirth. She turned back to Eleison, who was turned away and shaking with laughter. "Is he your boyfriend?" Which promptly got her to choke on her laughter and almost tumble off her chair if it wasn't for Ace grabbing her arm before her inevitable meeting with the floor.

"I wouldn't want father's wrath to descend on one of my only friends, Shakky," she finally managed to gasp out, stabilizing herself on the chair. "Besides, Ace and I have reached an understanding that we are better as friends."

Shakky smiled again and snuffed out her cigarette. "Is that so? Shame, he's a cutie." She winked at Ace, who certainly didn't blush at being called _cute_ (he's a god damn pirate), before pulling out another cigarette. "Caused quite a stir, haven't you? There's still talk about how the super rookie turned down the Warlord position." Ace managed a sheepish smile, remembering the letter and how he burnt it into ashes that are probably still floating in the ocean.

Shakky reached for her lighter, but Ace intervened.

"Ah, allow me!" He pointed his finger at the tip of the cigarette and it lit itself on fire. Shakky raised impressed eyebrows at the now smoking cigarette before looking at Ace, who was preening under the attention. Shakky chuckled before leaning over the counter again to get a better look at Ace, who smiled back and didn't back down.

Although he felt like he was being analyzed to the minute detail, and that only bothered him a little. Just a little. Not scared at all.

"You're going to scare him," he heard Eleison murmur, voice muffled by her arms. He casted a betrayed glance over to see her head resting in her arms on the table, watching him with pensive, tired eyes. "We should go look for Rayleigh; the sooner we find him, the sooner we can coat your ship. Do you know where he might be, Shakky?"

Shakky inhaled the smoke before puffing it out, resting her hand on her chin as if in thought. "He wasn't out for long, so he might still be at the market. If not, check the gambling houses." She smiled again as Eleison stood up and leaned over the counter to give a hug. "You coming back later, Sion?"

"Of course! I need a woman's touch in my life, after all," Eleison teased, heading for the door. "Bye Shakky, I'll be back soon!" Ace stood up and bowed at Shakky, thanking her for her help before walking after his friend.

"Who's Rayleigh?" Ace asked the moment the door closed. That whole conversation felt very one-sided, and it embarrassed Ace not to know what was going on all throughout that entire conversation. He could tell that woman was no pushover, but didn't know how to ask without losing his fingers.

"He's a ship coater, and like I said, I met him when I was with Shanks when father decided he needed some 'pirate 'time', or so he says," Eleison vaguely answered, grabbing her hood and pulling it over her head. "It's com- well, not complicated, but don't worry about it."

Ace, still confused, decided not to question it and decided to change the subject.

"Why are you putting your hood on? It's hot out," Ace asked, leaning over to peer under her hood.

"Not like you can tell; you're made of _fire_," she shot back, but sighed afterward. "We're literally right next to the Marine Headquarters. I rather not let my hard work go to waste now and, no offense, get my father in trouble because idiot Marines think I'm part of your crew."

"Do the Marines know he's your dad?"

"Yeah. That, uh, it's a long story."

"I bet it's actually really short." He huffed when she jabbed him in the stomach with her fingers, wheezing a bit at the force put behind that stab. A knife would probably hurt less. "N-No need to get violent! Geez."

"I'll show you violent," she muttered under her breath. Ace laughed and threw his arm around her shoulders, pulling her next to him again.

"Sorry, sorry! Man, I'm hungry…." And just to prove his point, his stomach gave a loud rumble in agreement. He laughed nervously when Eleison sighed, facepalming herself hard with a loud smack.

"Fine, we'll eat first," she grumbled in mild annoyance. He felt oddly smug at that, probably because now they will definitely be eating. "Don't look so smug. Ugh, why do I stick around."

"Because I'm your bestest friend in the whole wide world," Ace deadpanned before cracking up at Eleison's pointed stare.

"This world is too small, I need to find another one," she muttered, pulling him over to a nearby restaurant. "We can eat here; it has decent enough food, but it's not like you notice, since you either inhale it or sleep in it."

"Welcome! Table for two?" A waiter ushered them in, eager to serve. Must be new.

"Yes, thank you. VIP room, if you don't mi-" Eleison was cut off with a loud roar of laughter and some drunkard decided to saunter (more like stagger) over, grinning lecherously at Eleison who leaned away in disgust as he stood in front of her.

"Hey pretty, ditch this" the man sneered at Ace, teeth bared like a rabid dog, "_brat_, and have some _real _fun; I bet me and my buddies can teach you some _good _tricks to put to use."

Ace growled under his breath, feeling the tell-tale signs of fire pricking at his clench fists, and was about to burn the idiot _into a crisp_, but a firm hand grabbed his as a warning and as reassurance.

"No thank you," she replied without interest, sidestepping the pirate, moving closer Ace and glanced over at the waiter, who was standing stiff in fear. "VIP room, please?" Ace glared at the man, still feeling like he should throttle him just for good measure.

"A-Ah yes r-right this w-" Again, the waiter was cut off by the drunkard who roared again, this time in anger at being refused and pulled out his gun, pointing it at Eleison's head.

"I wasn't giving you an option," he hissed out, curling his finger around the trigger, and Ace couldn't help it.

He snapped.

"Hey," Ace snarled, hand shooting out and wrapping his burning fingers around the idiot's wrist. "Fuck off, or I'll punch a hole in you." He tightened his hand, feeling satisfied at the loud crack that was most definitely the screaming pirate's wrist, before tossing the man out the door.

"O-Oi!" His pirate crew jumped up, angrily brandishing their swords and guns as menacing as possible for a bunch of drunken idiots. Ace growled again, taking a step forward and cracking his fingers. He was itching for a good fight, anyway.

He stopped when he felt familiar fingers wrap around his wrist again, this time not as an anchor, but as a reprimand.

"And I just said not to cause trouble," she muttered under her breath, only loud enough so he could hear. He shot back an apologetic grin. "Don't damage the restaurant too much. Come up after you're done, okay?

She let go of his wrist before ushering the waiter to the side and away from the battlefield, and before she and the waiter disappeared up the stairs, she turned around and even though he couldn't see her eyes, he would bet that she was amused about this situation as much as he was.

"Don't cause too much of a scene. If you do, I'm not feeding you," Eleison stated with finality before turning around and walking up the stairs. Ace couldn't help the widening grin. That was practically an engraved invitation to go beat up some assholes.

"Aye aye!" he mock saluted and turned back to the pirates, who were fuming at being so easily dismissed.

"Do you know who you're messing with!? Our captain has a 250 million Beri bounty! He'll crush you!" one of the pirates yelled, and Ace wanted to fall over laughing. If this 'crew' managed to rake up a 250 million bounty, the New World is going to be easier than beating Luffy.

"Wow, I'm impressed," he said sarcastically instead and walked closer, letting the flames pool around him and rise at his feet. "Let me give you a _warm_ welcome."

* * *

Eleison sighed at the sound of screams of despair and pleas for mercy echo throughout the walls. Violence was always his favorite answer, no matter how much he liked to complained it was hers, first and foremost.

"OH MY GOD, YOU'RE FIRE FI-" She looked over her shoulder, bit amused that it took them so long to realize who Ace is. He was made of _fire_. How can you miss that? Pirates these days lack any form of intelligence or common sense.

"H-Here's the VIP room! Let us know when you like to order." The waiter opened a door, and Eleison smiled at the simplicity and elegance it held. There was a reason why she liked this restaurant; the peace it offered was more welcoming than others.

"Everything on the menu, please. Doubled," she immediately answered. She pulled out a sack of cash and handed it over. "This is the payment beforehand, for both food and any damages my friend might inflict on your fine establishment. I particularly like this restaurant, so I expect decent food." The look of horror on the waiter's face was a bit funny, and she made no move to correct his idea. "When my friend is done, can you lead him up here?"

The waiter garbled something unintelligent and she dropped the sack of money into his arms. It was heavy enough for the waiter's knees to buckle under the weight and stagger out of the room, leaving Eleison to herself. She walked over to the window and looked down and saw Ace having the time of his life beat the shit out of those pirates, who must have thrown outside to minimize the damage. Or chased them out when they decided to run when they found who he is.

Honestly, she was surprised how much he grew during the whole trip, from the very moment his ship passed Reverse Mountain to greeting the Red Line again. Now, she can only win if she gets serious and use her sword. It only pissed her off a little, but to be fair, Ace had an amazing fighting ability. If he got over his whole pride problem, that would even be better, but small mercies.

It was the right choice deciding to go with the Spades Pirates. Ace helped her more than she thought possible; at most, she thought she might be able to stop walking around with paranoia, but now she can sometimes sleep without medication, which almost caused her to weep in joy. Apparently all she needed was a close and understanding friend.

Eleison was a bit hesitant to find Rayleigh, seeing as the older man is the first-mate of Gol D. Roger, bane of Ace's existence and source of his never ending hatred. She was shamefully gambling that he hated him so much, he didn't bother researching his dead father's crew despite how notorious they are. Rayleigh was the best coater she knew, and she wanted the Spade Pirates to make it to the New World safely. If it came down to it, she'll just knock him out for a week and let Rayleigh coat the ship, load the crew up, and set sail for Fishman Island.

She pulled down her hood, sighing in relief before settling down in a chair. She deemed it safe enough in the restaurant and nothing major should happen, and it felt like she was burning up on the inside. But then again, Ace liked to defy those odds like it was his personal mission to challenge normality. It was a nice change in pace, but sometimes she wished he would slow down.

The first course of food came in, waiters steadily streaming in with trays of delicious food. She blinked as it started to pile up, wondering if she ordered a bit too much, especially when the waiters started to struggle to find an open spot to put the food down.

"Phew! They just kept multiplying! Got them all though, stacked them out front." Ace popped into the room with the previous waiter at his side, fretting about him trekking blood on their luxurious fake carpet. He gave a glancing apology before his eyes locked in on the food and started devouring everything in sight.

His appetite never ceased to be amazing, and according to the horrified looks on the waiters' faces, they were 'amazed', too. Maybe two orders of the whole menu wasn't enough after all.

She loaded her own plate with food that Ace hasn't grabbed yet, taking the time to eating things at her own pace. She was never one to eat much, but for some reason there wasn't much of an appetite to fulfill. She watched in mild amusement as Ace managed to shave half of the food on the table before he face planted down onto his plate with a snore.

Narcolepsy.

At least the food will have time to replenish itself. She pulled herself out of her seat and staggered a bit, her vision blurring for a few seconds before refocusing. She blinked in confusion, but shrugged it off and walked over to Ace and pulled his head off the plate, slapping his cheek to get him awake. There has to be a better way to stop these spontaneous naps, but waking him up is always fun. After a particularly hard slap that left a nice hand mark, Ace shot up, sitting straight and staring unseeingly forward.

"Bwuh! Ugh, I hate it when I fall asleep while eating" he grumbled, wiping off the pieces of food stuck to his face. She chuckled before reaching over and flicking off what he couldn't get before letting him restart the process of devouring everything in sight. She looked out the window in idle interest, watching people walk by, talking and laughing about something, and then occasionally gawk at the pile of pirates Ace left behind.

"Don't fall asleep again; we still have to find Rayleigh."

"Not like I plan my narcolepsy!"

"Hmm, no I suppose you don't. Or else you wouldn't have fallen asleep in the middle of the fight with the Fr-"

"_We don't speak of that._"

Eleison laughed for a short second before coughing harshly, feeling like her lung is going to come flying out of her mouth. She looked up to see Ace's concern gaze, but waved it off, saying it was something stuck in her throat and took a long drink of her water to soothe her aching throat. It was believable enough for Ace to get back to devouring everything in sight. It was a bit worrisome that she's been feeling like crap these past few days; headaches, lack of appetite, chills, and blurry vision plagued her, and it was annoying. Only idiots get sick, and Ace isn't sick, so she isn't sick.

The food finally stopped streaming in, leaving Ace to finish tearing through the remainders at an alarming pace.

"And you said your brother eats more than you?" she asked when Ace started choking on a bit of meat that he couldn't swallow. That was hard to believe; if Ace had a black hole, what was Luffy?

Ace swallowed his food and gulped down a gallon of water. "Yeah. Should see him in action sometime. It takes him 30 seconds to decimate a mountain this big," Ace replied with a grin. He looked so proud that his brother has a greater bottomless pit than he does, but that only made Eleison shudder at the thought. When Ace finally finished, she grabbed her cloak and clasped it around her shoulders, pulling the hood up as she walked towards the door.

"Please come again!" the waiters outside shouted and bowed, leaving them the center hallway to themselves. Ace grinned and followed her out back onto the streets, where the pile of pirates _still_ laid defeated with a huge crowd gathered around them, and she briefly wondered who their supposedly glorious captain is.

"Wonder who their captain is," Ace said thoughtfully, voicing her own thought out loud. He squinted at the pile to see if he could see a Jolly Roger anywhere.

"Let's not stick around to find out." Eleison ushered him away from the scene, which started to grab a sizable crowd and quiet murmurs. They finally managed to push their way through when a loud, annoying voice ripped through the air.

"WHO DID THIS TO MY CREW? WHO DARES TO DEFY 'THE GUILLOTINE?!'" That caught Eleison's attention, and she turned around to see a fat, pudgy man who apparently had white hair. Whether it was a wig or natural, she didn't feel like asking. Nor caring.

"Guillotine? What?! I thought he was dead!" Whispers started to grow more agitated, bustling around but away from the raging man, who was shouting something about beheading the culprits. Eleison felt her blood run cold at that rising gossips, suddenly feeling a bit more trapped than normal.

"Come on, let's go," Eleison murmured, grabbing his arm and pulling him away to somewhere more secluded. Ace looked over his shoulder even as he was being dragged to stare at the screaming man, eyes narrowed and focused. "Ace."

Hearing his name got him to move on his own, and together, they moved farther away from the source of the noise. Ace stayed quiet while they passed through busy streets, but never looked away from Eleison, as if thinking about something. Ace thinking never amounted to much, but with her luck, he might actu-

"Eleison," he murmured, only loud enough for her to hear. She broke out of her thoughts and slightly inclined her head towards him, motioning that she was listening. "What did those people mean, when they said that the Guillotine was dead? And is a he?"

Eleison sighed, reaching up to pinch the bridge of her nose as an oncoming headache started beating against her skull. She had hopes that he didn't notice, but Ace is always perceptive when she least wanted. She contemplating lying or changing the subject, but knew that Ace would just pout and act like a five year old for the rest of the day. She felt too tired to deal with that today, and the ocean wasn't near enough to throw him in.

"...My biological father was the Guillotine. As I mentioned earlier, he had the same hair trait as I do. Back then he was feared in the seas as a renowned assassin, because he was the one who went around killing people, sometimes beheading them, earning the nickname 'Guillotine'. I kind of took advantage of that, and went around getting rid of corrupt Marines and annoying pirates that bothered my father. I didn't do much to warrant a renewal of the Guillotine's wanted poster, I didn't even behead people, but the fear of the previous Guillotine must have still been going on, so I stopped going out at night."

Throughout her quiet explanation, Ace said nothing. He just stared silently ahead, and that made Eleison a little nervous. It was one thing to tell him her adopted father is the Warlord, but another thing to tell him that her real father was considered a mass murderer.

"Hm, makes sense," Ace suddenly replied, shaking her out of her growing fear. He turned and gave her his 'I have no room to judge you, and I wouldn't judge you anyway because you're my friend' smile, and she couldn't help but smile back. He threw his arm back around her shoulders, laughing loudly without caring that he was getting strange looks. "Thanks for telling me!"

Eleison laughed herself, feeling oddly relieved once again. It felt good trusting him like this, and even better since he trusts her just as much.

"Let's try here. I have a feeling that he might be stocking up on some alcohol," Eleison said, pulling him towards a nearby shop. And, because she was just simply amazing at coincidences, ran straight into Rayleigh. If it wasn't for Ace standing directly behind her, she would've rebounded off the old man and sent sprawling on the floor, dignity be damned.

"Oh? Sion! How surprising!" the old man laughed. He set down the bags to give her a hug before noticing Ace standing behind her, watching him with curious eyes. He pulled back and looked at Ace. "And who's this?"

Ace immediately bowed, introducing himself to silver haired man. "I'm Portgas D. Ace, Eleison's friend!" The old man laughed in delight, ruffling up his hair enough to make him look like he just got out of bed.

"Does your dad know you got yourself a boyfriend?" Rayleigh teased Eleison, who rolled her eyes in response.

"Yes. That's how he's still alive. I got his love and blessing, and we plan to get married next month; expect engraved invitations," Eleison said sarcastically. It's like having a male friend around her age immediately equates to being her boyfriend. This is almost like the story her father told her about the late Kuja pirate who thought marriage was sealed by a hug.

Rayleigh just laughed again and picked up the bags, hefting them up and putting them into the bubbles.

"Let's go back to Shakky's. It'll be easier to talk there," Rayleigh suggested, leading the way back. "Did you meet her already? It has been a while since we last saw you!"

"Ah, yeah I did. I went to visit her first to see if you were there. She's the one who told me you might be out in the market," Eleison answered, falling into step beside him. She wrapped her fingers around Ace's arm, tugging him along and away from the nice display of food, rolling her eyes at the pouting pyromaniac. "Ace, I _just_ fed you. Control yourself, for the love of Whitebeard."

Ace laughed, but allowed himself to be pulled away. He listened to his friend and the coater make idle chatter, occasionally throwing his own commentary about something. But when the conversation switched to 'embarrassing Eleison moments', Ace must've thought it was a good time to be a total asshole and find endless amusement at her expense.

"And then there's this one time when she passed o-"

"_We don't speak of that." _

Screw making it to the New World, or even getting to Fishman Island. Ace isn't going to have a foot to step off Shabondy.

* * *

Ace was having so much fun. He never gets to tease Eleison like this. _Ever._ This was a golden opportunity and he was going to milk it for all it's worth, even if it means she's probably going to get him back ten-fold. Might as well live the moment.

Eleison's face might actually combust, judging how red her face is getting.

"Aw come on! I think it's cute that you were scared of unicorns when you were a kid!" Ace couldn't even keep a straight face at his attempt comfort. She hissed at the two before turning away, cheeks puffed in anger. It was so cute he couldn't resist wrapping his arms around her waist and hoisting her up, laughing as he squished his cheek against hers, his hat knocking over and hanging around his neck.

She groaned and smacked him in the face with an open palm with no real threat behind it. "I'm going to tear your arms off and _beat you with them,_" Eleison muttered, but oddly relaxed in his arms. Ace thought it was only a little weird that she didn't try squirming away, but shrugged it off as an odd case of affection. Behind them, Rayleigh watched them separate with a warm smile that Ace generally associated with matchmaking and 'elderly love'.

"You used that threat yesterday," Ace teased, his eyes lit with fiery mirth. He set her back on the ground and placed a hand on her forehead. "Are you feeling okay?" Eleison responded with a heavy kick to his ribs, and he was lucky that she didn't feel like using Haki, or else he might have been sent flying into a sticky tree and end up with a few broken bones. Being fire doesn't make him invulnerable, sadly enough.

"Does that feel okay to you?"

"U-Ugh...just perfect," he replied weakly, lifting a hand in surrender along with a weak smile. She laughed and playfully shoved at his shoulder, causing him to stumble before regaining his balance. Instead of getting angry and fired up (literally), he laughed and shoved back, feeling a bit daring.

Honest, he didn't expect her to stumble and fall. After that initial shock and small prayer of gratitude that she was wearing shorts under her dress (because she would have pulled his still beating heart out of his chest otherwise), he hurried over to see if she was fine.

"E-Eleison? Are you okay?" Ace knelt next to her, helping her sit up from the sticky grass.

"W-Why is the world spinning?"

Ace stared at her in blank shock, unsure how to reply to that. "The, uh, world isn't spinning?" The fallen girl glanced up at him with glazed eyes and flushed cheeks, and he's seen that look somewhere before, but he just couldn't remember.

"Oh my. Sion, are you sick?" Rayleigh asked, walking over and kneeling next to them. The old man placed his hand on her forehead to check her temperature, when she suddenly leaned closer to the hand, humming in content as she closed her eyes. And then it was just obvious. He knew he saw these kind of symptoms before. That glazed look was a lot like when Luffy got sick way back when they were still on Mt. Corvo. When Luffy had a painful fever that rendered him weak and vulnerable. Admittedly, he may have panicked a bit.

"Sion! Hey, what's wrong!" Eleison doesn't get sick. That's almost as impossible as Luffy being a Marine. It just _doesn't happen._ He grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her hard as if he could shake the sickness out of her body.

"Shh, Ace. Stop making earthquakes," Eleison said drowsily as she struggled to stand, but Ace was having none of it. In a fit of worry, he lifted her up in his arms in a princess hold, ready to sprint back to his ship in hopes of finding his doctor. "...I can't believe you just picked me up like some dainty princess. My pride, Ace, my pride. It's _dying."_

"_YOU'RE DYING!" _he intelligently yelled back, and winced in regret when she flinched at his loud voice before squeezing her eyes shut.

"S-Sorry...I'm sorry I'm dying…." And didn't that make Ace the biggest asshole around. Who knew Eleison was the clingy type when sick and delirious? Forget being worried, he was in full blown panic mode. It was a blessing in disguise that the old man Rayleigh was there to calm him down, or else he might've actually burned down Shabondy in his haste for his doctor. In the time it took him to contemplate the best course to run back to his ship, a heavy hand fell on his shoulder, holding him in place.

"Calm down, let's not be rash," Rayleigh comforted, giving Ace a warm smile. "Come, let's get back to Shakky's." After an inner conflict on what to do, he turned to follow Rayleigh back to the bar, doing his best not to rouse Eleison, who apparently fallen asleep without a care of Ace's fretting. The two walked for a few more minutes, accompanied by Eleison's soft breathing and occasional coughs. The once cheerful mood went completely sour, and Ace couldn't find it in him to start up a conversation again, especially with Eleison knocked out, but the silence was killing him.

"HEY YOU!" Ace turned around to see the same fat man from before waddle towards him, his fuming crew trailing behind with limps and bruises. The fake Guillotine skidded to a halt in front of him, sweat dripping from pores and breath ragged from the running. Just what he needed, more problems. "YOU WERE THE ONE WHO ATTACKED MY CREW!"

Normally Ace would jump at the chance of beating up idiot pirates who have the guts to challenge him, but there was no time. Especially when Sion is sick and _could be dying why is this fatass still in his way._

"Yeah, and I'll burn you into a crisp like your crew, too, if you don't get out of my way," Ace snarled, his fire blazing from his feet. He tried his best to reign in his anger, but like his flames, it couldn't be so easily controlled.

"Heh. Don't you know who I am?! I'm the great Guillotine! I'm feared across the seas as one of the most ruthless assassins in all of the Grand Line!" he boasted, and his sad excuse of a crew cheered their even sadder excuse of a captain on.

"I don't care if you're a fucking Celestial Dragon or a god damn Admiral, I will turn you into a smear on the grass if you don't _get out of my way_." Ace took a threatening step forward, and he shot a smug smirk when the "Guillotine" backed up in a moment of fear, but it didn't last long.

"H-Hah! All talk, no bite, eh? The Guillotine will teach punks like you what happens when you mess with the Beheader Pirates!" The fat man _preened_ under his own threat, like he should win a gold star for 'best threat of the year' or be crowned Pirate King right then and there. The tub of lard even pulled out an exaggerated sword to show off; Ace doubted that this idiot even knew what a guillotine is.

Ace was about to put Eleison down and punch the asshole a new asshole, when Rayleigh stepped in front of him and held his arm out, effectively stopping Ace from ripping the wannabe pirate into shreds.

"Now, now. We're bit in a hurry, and this old man is quite busy," Rayleigh said with a carefree laugh. "Can we just let bygones be bygones and be on our way?"

"W-What!? How dare you talk to the great Guillotine! I have an 250 million bounty! You think I'm just going to let you walk aw-" The white headed man was cut off by a fireball to the face, happily provided by Ace. It was always entertaining to spit fireballs.

If Ace learned anything in his time in the Grand Line, boasting pirates are the most annoying. They can literally rant for hours on hours on _hours_ about how amazing and strong they are. It gets his hopes up for a good fight, only to be bitterly disappointed how weak they really are. The standards for a bounty is dropping way too low.

"W-Who turned the sun on?" A soft, meek voice pulled him out of his thoughts, and he glanced down to see Eleison shifting and blinking up at the sky like it was her mortal enemy. He was so focused on her unfocused stare, her question took a whole minute to process in his mind.

"U-Uh." Not even Luffy was this...strange, when he was sick. But it was endearingly cute. "Don't worry about it, go back to sleep." He watched her take her time blinking at him in confusion before yawning, deciding it was too much effort to try to have coherent thoughts.

"M'kay," she slurred out, curling back up into his arms. Ace knew she took a liking to his natural heat provided by his Devil Fruit, and Ace didn't mind it one bit. She even confided that it helped her fall asleep faster because of the warmth and comfort. He couldn't help the soft smile as she fell back to sleep in mere seconds, face covered by her hood and cheek pressed against his chest.

"Heh." He looked back up to see the fat pirate staring in lust at Eleison, a disgusting tongue darting out to wet his pudgy lips. "How about this...we'll let you go...but you hand over the girl. I can think of a few things I could do with her...heeh."

If he wasn't carrying Eleison, Ace would've felt the need to rip the fake white-head's tongue out, burn it, and shove the ashes so far up his-

A sudden wave of unrelenting pressure drowned out his thoughts, and he never thought silence could be so loud or so heavy before. Before he realized what was happening, the Beheader pirates started dropping to the ground like flies, eyes rolling back in unconsciousness, until they all laid sprawled out on the grass.

"That's better." He slowly turned his head to stare at Rayleigh, who was already walking off like he didn't just forced a group of twenty pirates into submission using some sort of Haki. He stood staring at the retreating figure before shaking himself out of his own shock before following after him. Answers won't be given if he just stood there, nor is Eleison going to get any better.

He finally caught up to the man, who smiled at him like it was an inside joke, and Ace never felt so lost before; he really wished Eleison wasn't sick and awake so she could fill him in on _what the fuck just happened._ Once again, the two walked in silence as Eleison stayed oblivious to her surroundings.

"So, how did you two meet?" Ace turned to Rayleigh, who was still smiling at him without a worry in the world. "Eleison grew out of her shy phase long ago, but she still has a hard time opening up to people, yet the two of you seem close!"

Ace looked back down at Eleison, who shifted during Rayleigh's 'attack', and is even more curled up in his arms than before. He laughed at the memory of his ship tumbling down Reverse Mountain before he blacked out, and how he woke up and met Eleison, standing on the cliff in awe and amusement.

"My crew and I just got over Reverse Mountain, she was already there visiting the lighthouse keeper, Crocus-"

"Crocus is still there? How is he?" Rayleigh interrupted, grinning ear to ear. "Is that whale still around? Laboon, was it?"

"Y-Yeah! You know Crocus?" That was mildly surprising. It's not a big shocker that all pirates had to go through the Reverse Mountain in order to get to the Grand Line, but this old man was, well, _old. _How old did that make Crocus? That made something dawn to realization; he was old enough to be before the Great Pirate Era, before Rogers died. Would that mean Rayleigh sailed the same seas as that...man?

"He sailed on our ship for a few years! Good man, he is." Rayleigh stared up the sky with a wistful smile, reminiscing about the 'good old pirate times' before laughing again. "My captain had an incurable disease, but Crocus extended his life by a few years. We are in his debt."

"Who was your ca-" Ace was suddenly cut off by a yell and more notably an uppercut to the chin, head snapping back and saw fiery stars dancing in the corners of his vision. He groaned in pain before realizing it was Sion who punched him with imbued Haki. He glared down at the offender, angry that he almost bit his tongue off mid-sentence, but mostly because _she just punched him in the chin with Haki._

"What the hell, Sion!?"

"Mmm. Warm…" Instead of giving a reason for almost punching a tooth out, Eleison decided to try to curl up even more and give a sigh of content. He sighed, resigned to the momentarily abuse he will face as a consequence of being her friend.

"If you weren't sick, I'd drop you," he grumbled, hoisting her up more to readjust his grip on her new position.

"No you wouldn't," the unexpected reply came. He looked down, but there were no signs that she was awake. Not like he could ever tell, anyway. If there's one thing he's learned about Eleison, its her uncanny ability to lie and pretend. Even sick and unconscious, she could still probably kick his ass physically, mentally, and verbally, and then still have time for some tea and cookies.

This is Luffy's fault. Being around an idiot who couldn't lie to save his life lowered his expectations of a liar. And then Eleison walks in and lies like it's breathing and it's so hard to know if she's fucking with him or actually telling the truth.

"Hahaha! Are you sure you two aren't dating?" Rayleigh laughed. Ace looked up from his angry musings before laughing himself.

"No, no. We're just really good friends. Eleison is one of my closest friends, after all!" Ace said cheerfully, and casted a fond smile at Eleison, despite being a bit exasperated.

"You two should get married!" Ace looked up and gaped at the old man, who was grinning in triumph at his fabulous idea. Suddenly Eleison shifted in his arms and a blink later, Rayleigh was holding a dagger between his fingers. Arms crawled up and wrapped themselves around his neck, hoisting up the girl in his own arms until her head was nested in the crook of his neck.

"Stop trying to pimp me out, Rayleigh," the fever ridden girl mumbled, shooting a glare at the old man before burying her into his skin again. "So warm…."

Ace was at a loss to do. On one hand he wanted to laugh hysterically because he was slowly turning into a human fireplace, but on the other, wanted to coo at Eleison's rare show of affection, even if she's doing this because she can't think straight to know otherwise.

They finally made it to Shakky's bar (Ace feared that, with all the bullshit happening from the entire trip, they would never make it), when a man was bodily thrown out the door, smashing nicely into the grass and stopped moving. If Ace took two more steps, he would have been in the line and fire, and he gave a silent thanks that he narrowly avoided Eleison kicking his ass for dropping her.

"Oh? Welcome back." Ace looked up from the unconscious victim to see Shakky standing at the doorway, holding another man by the collar, who (wow surprise) was also unconscious and drooling a bit. She threw him aside like trash and walked back in, and Rayleigh didn't hesitate to follow in, Ace trailing after. "I take it Eleison is sick, as I suspected?"

...As _suspected?_

It's settled. Women are the most terrifying creatures in all of creation. They were gifted some secret power that just made them know everything.

Shakky walked behind her bar as Rayleigh disappeared into the back, most likely putting his groceries away, and Ace carefully laid Eleison down on the couch, who immediately curled into the couch, knees almost touching her chest.

"Eleison, you need to eat something for medicine." Shakky walked over with a muffin, a glass of water, and two pills, setting them down before trying to stop the pouting child from falling asleep again.

"Don't need...it'll go 'way later," Eleison protested, batting off the offending arm. Not even batting an eyelash, Shakky evaded all attempts to be pushed away, and Eleison found herself sitting up with a muffin in hand. Ace was a bit surprised to see her so easily defeated, even if she was a bit out of it. Just how scary is this woman? "Fine you win." And Eleison conceded defeat?

The world is ending.

"Stop look like the world is ending, jackass." A soft kick to his knee pulled him out of his horror, and he chuckled at Eleison's weak, unconvincing glare. It spoke volumes of how well they actually knew each other now, and to be honest, it should be a little unnerving to trust someone so much that wasn't his brother, but it was so natural at this point, he doesn't question it anymore.

"So if Eleison brought you here, I bet you would need your ship to be coated," Rayleigh commented, walking back into the bar again. Ace turned his attention to Rayleigh and gave a hesitant nod.

"Yeah...but I don't know what that means...Eleison didn't really explain anything."

"Oh? That's surprising. Well, the next island is Fishman Island, correct? The only way pirates can make it past the Red Line is to go through to Fishman Island, unless you plan to scale the wall with your bare hands and your ship strapped to your back," Rayleigh explained, taking the time to pour himself a cup of tea. "That is what coaters are for. We use the special resin provided by Shabondy and coat the ships to allow passage to Fishman Island and to the New World."

"Wow, that's pretty cool!" Ace was impressed. Granted, he didn't think that far into his pirate adventure (because what's the fun in that?) and Sion was most likely the only reason his ship didn't sink before they hit the first island. "So how does coating w-"

And then there was darkness.

Fucking narcolepsy.

* * *

Rayleigh was only mildly surprised to see the lad suddenly hit the floor with a loud snore, a growing snot bubble ballooning from his nose. Especially mid sentence, too. He looked so awake, you would've thought he was suddenly poisoned from how fast he knocked out. It was only from prior experience from a certain captain of his and his narcoleptic problem that stopped him from jumping to conclusions.

When he first saw Ace, he was taken back about how much he looked like Roger's lover, Rouge; the freckles were the most notable comparison, among other things. Even after conquering the Grand Line, the mysterious ocean could still find ways to surprise him.

But it was only when Eleison cut her friend off with an interestingly well timed uppercut, forcing the unfortunate victim to forget his earlier questions, did it become glaringly obvious: Ace was his captain's, Gol D. Roger's, his best friend's son, and held no love for his own father.

"That was a surprise," Shakky remarked, busying herself in cleaning up the cup and plate she brought over. Although the woman didn't say it, it seemed she came to a similar conclusion he did. She was always a secretive woman, always on the lookout to spread her information net even more so. Even after Shakky retired from being a pirate, she is still a woman to respect and fear.

Eleison looked a little dazed and considerably feverish, but managed to push herself to her feet and stumble over to where Ace was passed out. She sat down next to him, knees sprawled out to her sides, before she tried waking Ace by smacking his cheek. After a few fumbles and patting the floor, her hand finally managed to hit her friend's cheek.

"Ace...hey...wake up…your needa coat your ship...it's being sad in Groove 12," Sion mumbled, doing her best to stay conscious. Rayleigh stifled a laugh; Shakky must have brought out the stronger pills that could knock a normal man unconscious for a week for Eleison to take, judging how drugged she looks. After a few more struggling pats, she gave up and tried standing, not making much progress before falling back down.

Eleison on drugs is much like a kitten learning how to walk. Her father must be shedding tears on missing out on this, knowing just how much he spoils his one and only daughter. It was almost as if she regressed back to the tender age of five when the full effect of the medication and sickness hits.

"Eleison," he called out, waiting for her to notice he's still in the room. "Would you like to go back to sleep? I can coat your friend's ship for you." Eleison slowly turned to stare at him with dilating eyes.

"M'kay. That's...m'kaay…." Eleison yawned again before settling down next to Ace, curling up by his side and quickly fell asleep.

Like a kitten, indeed.

* * *

"You're not coming with us to the New World?"

To say Ace was disappointed would be a severe underestimate to what he really felt, even if he couldn't put it into words.

"I'll catch up, don't worry. Don't pout, you're the damn captain of the damn Spade Pirates."

It's been only a few days since they made it to the Island of Bubbles, and through sheer luck and miracles, he and his entire crew managed to avoid disaster and Admirals, following Eleison's strict instructions (almost) to the letter. She doesn't have to know that he narrowly evaded punching a Celestial Dragon straight out of his dumb looking suit.

Eleison herself didn't enjoy the latest stop so much, seeing as she came down with some sickness that prevented her from doing anything other than sleeping, eating, and the occasional bathroom trip. Talking to Rayleigh, Shakky, and his crew was entertaining enough, but he missed Eleison's sarcastic remarks and passive aggressive actions.

She's been with the Spade Pirates for so long, it felt like she really was part of his crew, despite knowing otherwise. Honestly, he didn't want to set sail without leaving her behind, despite her reassurances of catching up (and she can, with her insane Moon Walk of hers) in a few weeks.

The only reason why she has to stay is because her overprotective dad was told about her cold, and raised hell to arrive here, and being the loyal daughter she is, decided to stay to greet him and pacify his angers before he comes raging after him, something he's thankful for.

"Ace." His name pulled him out of his disappointed mumblings, glancing up to see Eleison grab his hand, flipping it open and placing a piece of paper in his palm. "Here."

"What's this?" Ace held it up, seeing nothing remotely interesting about a blank piece of paper. Maybe the fever did some damage after all….

"It's a Vivre Card for Shanks. You said you always wanted to meet him to thank him for saving your brother Luffy, right? Here, watch." She flattened his hand again and placed the paper on his palm, and he almost yelled in shock when the paper actually _moved._ "The Vivre Card follows the bigger half, so since Shanks _should_ have the bigger piece, this one moves towards where that is. Follow this paper, and you should find Shanks. He normally camps out in desolate islands away from civilization."

He stared in awe at the little paper in his hand, which was slowly, but surely, inching across his palm. He moved around the room to see if the paper still moved in the same direction, and to his utter joy, it did.

"This is so cool!" And suddenly an amazing idea struck him.

He could give a Vivre Card to Luffy, so he'll always know where he is in case he needs help. Now all he needs is to learn how to make one.

He turned around to relay his question to Eleison, but she cut him off by snatching off his hat and held up another piece of paper, making a show of ripping it in half.

"This is your Vivre Card. I'm going to sew it into the inside of your hat, because I actually don't trust you to lose it, accidentally eat it, or magically narcolepsying it away." Ace pouted, but couldn't deny some of the truths in that (although the narcolepsy is _still_ not his fault), and watched her sew the large half of the Vivre Card into his hat with precise stitches, before biting off the remaining thread. She took the paper she had in her hand and ripped it in half, pocketing one and handing the other to Ace. "You can give this to Luffy if you ever meet him when he sets sail. I know you were thinking of it."

Ace grinned and hugged her, already missing her on his ship. He pulled away and she gave him a fond, exasperated smile, and placed his hat back on top of his head before returning the hug.

"You sure you can't come with us to Fishman Island? Going under the ocean by yourself is going to be hard," Ace tried persuading again.

Eleison laughed. "When my father comes, we're going back to the New World through Mariejois, so don't worry. It's convincing my father that I am not about to keel over and die is the hard part."

Eleison looked much better than when they first landed. She's regained most of her strength and stopped being as clingy (although Ace was endlessly amused about that) and can kick his ass again. After a few close calls of being blasted through a few walls, Ace realized that Eleison's control over her Haki when she's sick was little to none. He sincerely hopes she never gets sick again.

"I'll see you in the New World," Eleison said, almost with a bit of pride coloring her words, and Ace grinned back, holding his fist out in response. She laughed and gently punched his, almost as if placing her trust with him.

"Let's go crew! We got an ocean to sail!"

He's going to come in like a fire storm and make the world fear his name. First course of action, meet Shanks.

And then he's going after the strongest man in the world.

Whitebeard.

* * *

**How's that? Too slow? Out of character? Tell me what you think!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**Guys I finally got the ball rolling. Are you proud of me?!**

**CAUSE I AM. **

**Thank you for all the support, reviews, favorites, and follows! It's been a great motivator.**

**Now that I have a short break before school starts (again ;_;) I think I can get a few more updates in, now that I'm actually at a main part. **

**Any questions about the story or any advice about writing is welcomed and very much appreciated! **

**Don't own One Piece.**

* * *

One month.

It took one whole month to convince her father that yes, she's perfectly fine now, no, she's not dating Ace, yes, it was just a random coincidence of sickness, no, she does not have an unfulfilled crush for him, and yes, he is only a friend. The other questions aren't even worth remembering. It's not like she hasn't gotten sick before, but father always freaks out when she does. It's the bloody _Grand fucking Line_, she's bound to get sick again at some point.

Eleison loves her father and knows he cares and wants the best for her, but for the first time ever she thought how ridiculous he is. Maybe it was the lessening fear of abandonment that had her sighing at his blubbering attempts to 'protect her chastity and innocence'.

To make matters worse, only a few days after Ace set sail for Fishman Island did she encounter _another_ problem that stalled her from catching up with Ace. While she was expecting her father to be the first Warlord she meets, she instead runs into the pink, exaggeratedly flamboyant Warlord, Doflamingo.

Of all the Warlords, it just _had _to be him. She'd rather run into god damn Crocodile, at least he isn't as colorful as this walking blob of neon colors. Hell, Hancock might've been the lesser evil compared to him.

She met him only a few times when younger, when forced to tag along with father to his Warlord meetings, or the ones he decided to attend. The first time was completely on accident; she was so short she barely reached his knee when she accidentally ran headfirst him. Of course it wasn't a proper greeting, since she immediately turn tail and ran for it.

The second time, however, was much more memorable. But that was mostly thanks for Trafalgar Law becoming her first friend, even if he's a bit of an insomniac sadist.

After many years of constant badgering, her father can finally (_dear god finally)_ sit in the same room without having the need to slice Doflamingo in half, and thank god that's a rarity in itself. Anything else is fair game. And to make matters _worse_, her father came while she was trying to fend off a hug from Doflamingo, and the island almost sank as a result. Eleison has never been so _done with their shit_ before.

After she diffused _that_ problem (that took a few weeks and the lives of a few trees), she and her father finally made the trip back to the New World. She spent a week with him, sparring in deserted islands and told him stories of her adventures and just simple father-daughter stuff. And when her father was pacified from his worries with promises that she will be fine and how unlikely for sickness to hit her within the same year (the last time she got sick was when she was ten, come on), he handed over his own Vivre Card for Shanks, knowing she would want to visit him before catching up with her friend.

"He's going to _what?!"_

"He's going to challenge Whitebeard!"

Visit him and then _send him to hell._

She finally made it to the Shank's temporary hideout, a frozen wasteland thankfully near the beginning of the New World, when he decided to tell her that Ace, her unassuming best friend, was going to take Whitebeard's head.

"Why didn't you stop him! Shanks, oh my god he's going to die!" Eleison yelled, burrowing her fingers through her hair in frustration. She's off the ship for one month, _one month,_ and already Ace is about to die. He could already be dead!

"Dahahaha! If he wants to try, he should try! Besides, Whitebeard probably won't kill him!" Shanks laughed off, madly grinning as he pulled her to his side. "Come on, let's party!" Eleison groaned and slammed her head on the wall, mumbling about stupid idiots and death promises. She glanced over to Ben, who was watching his captain slowly get drunk once more.

"Why didn't you stop him," Eleison almost wailed, flopping against Shank's side. Ben smiled while Shanks laughed and wrapped his one arm around her shoulder, his hand still clutching the mug. He shrugged and gave a pointed look at his captain.

"He's a captain. He can make his own decisions," Ben answered. "I figured you would be more angry about Shanks telling your friend about your childhood. Very specific parts of your childhood."

Eleison snapped her head to stare at Shanks, almost gaping in shock. "Y-You didn't…." Shanks laughed and held his mug out.

"Dahahaha! Don't worry, I only told him a few stories!" Shanks reassured, shooting her a playful grin.

"...What stories…?" Eleison had a sinking feeling in her stomach, and feared for the worst. Shanks isn't that much of an asshole to tell one of her very few friends about that one time she str-

"Like that one time when you scandalized a town by streaking through the streets when you were four!"

"I'm going to _murder you_."

Sadly Shanks was already too far gone with his alcohol to truly appreciate her death threat. Eleison sighed in resignation and said nothing, slumping down in defeat. That was probably one of the more tamer stories her beloved 'uncle' decided to tell, and she can already imagine the amount of smug shit Ace is going to give her after she's done saving his ass and then kicking it across the ocean.

"_Please_ tell me you didn't him the story about that one time I had a crush on _that_ person."

"That was the first story he told," Ben helpfully interjected. She turned to give him a look of absolute betrayal. "Your friend didn't stop laughing for an hour; we all thought he was going to either faint or die." Why she hasn't followed in on any of her threats will always be a surprise and a regret she'll remember every passing second. Especially this particular second.

"Don't worry, I'm going to kill him, and then come back for you all. Father will be proud of me." Shanks placed his hand over of his heart, looking hurt and pouted.

"You're going to kill your favorite uncle in the whole world? How could you!"

Eleison smirked. "Like I said. Father will be proud of me." Shanks gasped, slapping his hand to his cheek in mock shock.

"What happened to the innocent little girl we know and love?"

"She learned the joys of death and destruction. Particularly your death and destruction." The Red-Haired Pirates laughed and cheered at Eleison's witty comeback, many of them falling over and sloshing their alcohol around. She snatched a mug from one of the fallen pirates and downed the contents in one go. Sadly, it wasn't nearly enough to get her even a bit tipsy. All those times of sneaking sips from father's wine and Shank's alcohol when she was young quickly built up her tolerance to handle a few rounds without many problems.

Although when father and unc-Shanks found out, the wailing and sudden bouts of depression was a bit of a hassle to deal with. Ben later told her that her mother was also notorious for being able to drink both her brother and Shanks under the table, then the rest of the crew while she was at it and cackling at their hangovers the next day, because she was magical and didn't believe in hangovers, a trait she seemingly inherited.

"You think the kid is going to join Whitebeard?" Eleison looked up from the mug she's been staring at it, eyebrows raised in confusion. Why would Ace bear the mark of a man he's trying to kill? But then again, it's Ace. Nothing he does should surprise her, but he still manages to completely throw her off.

Like _challenging the strongest freaking man in the freaking world._

"I'm just hoping he's not going to die anytime soon...I should get going. His Vivre Card is still fine, so he's not dead. Yet," Eleison muttered under her breath, already moving to stand up. A sudden tug on her arm had her tumbling back onto her seat and she scowled at the culprit.

"Come on, you just got here! Have a drink with your uncle!" Shanks demanded, already pouring them more alcohol into two mugs. She sighed as the crew sans Ben started crowding around, eagerly waiting for the drinking contest to start and started cheering for their captain to beat the notorious Dracule successor.

"Fine, but I'm not paying for what I drink," she warned, but picked up the mug and drank the alcohol in quick gulps before slamming it back down onto the makeshift table. "Next."

* * *

It took the better half of the week to force her dear uncle to detach himself from her arm and to really start looking for the Spade Pirates. That was mostly because Shanks kept demanding a rematch until he actually passed out.

She sincerely hopes that he didn't get alcohol poisoning...that would be a terrible way for an Emperor pirate to go.

Eleison was getting extremely worried. She managed to follow Ace's Vivre Card to it's other half, but unfortunately all she found was his battered cowboy hat and an island full of craters and scorch marks marring the land like grass. When she asked the nearby villagers, who were watching the showdown take place, they notified her that most of this destruction was the result of Ace fighting the Sea Knight Jinbei, not Whitebeard, for five straight days. Ironically enough, Whitebeard appeared after both went down, kicked Ace's ass in one hit, and took him aboard his ship.

Although it was good that Whitebeard probably (and hopefully) isn't going to kill Ace anytime soon, she really hoped Ace wasn't going to try to do something stupid. Like try to assassinate the man on his own ship. He should have more common sense than that.

But now she's back in square one. Ace's hat was in her possession now and with it the Vivre Card she sewed in, and she had no other way of tracking him down besides the old fashion way, which will undoubtedly take a good chunk of her time jump-flying over the oceans in search for her wayward friend.

She sighed, shoving the bright orange hat onto her head and gazed out into the vast ocean, desperately hoping Ace and the rest of the Spade Pirates were okay. She knew his crew was loyal to a fault, so they probably attacked the Whitebeard Pirates in hope of recovering their kidnapped captain and then got caught themselves. They're just so predictable, the whole lot of them.

"You literally just got to the New World, Ace," Eleison sighed, talking to herself as she turned around and walked towards the village again. "If you were going to get your ass handed to you and then kidnapped, you could've at least taken your hat." Of course that would've been too easy, and life did seem to have it out for her, or took pleasure in making her frustrated with everything that breathes and exists.

She stole a glance over her shoulder, gazing at the barren land once more before setting out to find her simple minded pyromaniac. Whether to save him or to kill him herself, well, she can always cross that bridge when she gets to it.

* * *

Marco watched the temporary guest sail through the air and into the water after another failed assassination attempt, a recently common sight aboard the Moby Dick.

"More than a hundred times now, isn't it?" he heard one of his brothers say, who also watching with a small group. Like the rest of them, he was a bit tired of watching the stubborn kid try over and over again to kill Pops; when will he learn that he's way out of his league?

It's been about a month and a half since they brought the Spade captain and his crew in, hoping to turn them into their new brothers. So far, Ace was the only one fighting tooth and nail and fire to prevent otherwise. Most of the original Spade Pirates have more or less accepted their spot in the Whitebeard Pirates, many of them already starting to call Whitebeard 'Pops', much to his captain's eternal delight.

Now, if only this fire brat will make up his mind, everything won't cost so much damn paperwork from the amount of damage he's bringing in.

The rest of the day passed without much problem, and Marco took the time to finish some reports, hoping to make a dent in it before Ace's next assassination attempt, which would undoubtedly bring more paperwork for him to suffer through. One can dream.

By the time he emerged out of his room again, the sun was drifting lower in the sky, turning the horizon red-orange. He went to the galley for some food, chatting up with some of the other commanders, many of them present at the table.

"So you think the kid is going to actually join?" Thatch asked, swinging an arm around Marco's shoulders. He knew Thatch really wanted Ace to just accept Pop's mark so they can wreck havoc on all of their brothers with pranks.

"Hard to say. It doesn't look like he's going to stop trying to kill Pops anytime soon, though," Marco answered, before remembering something. He stood up, letting Thatch's arm fall away from his shoulders and went up the the chef.

"Hey, give me a bowl of soup or something. I'll give it to the brat; I doubt he's eaten anything in a while," Marco said, and the chef nodded before ladeling some beef soup into a bowl and handing it over. Marco thanked the chef and headed out the door, ignoring Thatch's questions and insistent ramblings. He found Ace sitting against the railing, his back pressed again the wood and his knees drawn up, his arms precariously balanced over them and his head bowed in defeat.

He placed the bowl down next to him and waited, wondering if he'll even accept food from his 'enemy', before deciding to walk away to leave him alone.

"You guys…" Marco didn't get very far when he stopped at the voice, turning around to look at the speaker. "Why do you guys call him your father anyway?"

Marco immediately answered. "Because he calls us his sons." Ace looked up, confusion written on his face. "To the rest of the world we're all just outcasts. It makes us happy. It's just a word, but it makes us happy!"

Ace choked back tears and looked away, and Marco sighed. He went over and kneeled down on one knee in front of him, trying to catch his attention again.

"Hey, how long are you going to keep risking your life like this? Make up your mind already!" Marco asked, staring at Ace trying to understand what the fireman was thinking. "You can't possibly take Oyaji's head the way you are now."

When Ace still failed to respond, he continued on. "Are you gonna get off this ship and start over, or are you going to stay here...and accept Whitebeard's mark?" Marco stood up, having said what he wanted to say and walk away. Best to let the brat think about it for once instead of charging in fist first. He looked over his shoulder, wondering if Ace was just going to sit outside the entire night in hopes for another chance for Oyaji's head, and sighed, shaking his head and continued to walk away.

There wasn't much he could do but wait for his answer. Hopefully soon.

* * *

Marco was enjoying his rare chance to sleep in. If all goes well, there should be no attacks, no Thatch, no annoying assasi-

"W-WE'RE UNDER ATTA-"

A whole fifteen minutes of peace. New record.

Marcio immediately jumped out of bed and threw his door open, running towards the source of the noise. How did this person get so close to the ship? Whoever is attacking is either bravely stupid or stupidly brave.

Not like there's much of a difference anyway.

Marco rounded the corner, eyes darting around to see the attacker when a sudden blur passed him, and out of instinct he reached out to grab the person. The moment his fingers wrapped around the person's wrist, he was sent flying into the railing, his head painfully colliding against the wood. His cheek throbbed in pain that was quickly dulled thank to his powers, and he quickly jumped to his feet and ran after the attacker, who was already running away. He saw Thatch jump down from above, cutting off the path and pulled out his swords.

"Don't know who you are, but you got some gu-" The attacker didn't even hesitate to whip out his weapon (a double rope dart...you don't see that every day) and fling it forward. It flew with unimaginable speed, and Thatch narrowly avoided being impaled in the forehead, but it gave just enough time and room for the cloaked figure to bypass him.

Marco clicked his tongue and ran past Thatch, who managed to pick himself up and started running after Marco.

"Shit, he's fast!" Thatch grunted out, already falling behind. Marco had to agree; even he was struggling to keep up with the attacker. At this rate, he's going to lose sight of him. The two of them chased the attacker farther down the ship, but it seems like he was getting farther and farther away, much to his dismay.

"Hold it!" Izou stood in front of them, gun cocked and aimed for the intruder. But like when facing Thatch, the person didn't falter in their steps but instead disappeared and reappeared behind Izou in a split second.

"W-Wha-" Izou's surprised shout was cut off by a kick that sent the 16th Whitebeard commander flying towards Marco, who dodged it in favor of letting his brother slam into Thatch instead. Marco jumped forward, nearly catching the corners of the cloak before the person did some twist that pulled him just _barely_ out of reach.

"Tch!" Marco clicked his tongue, eyes narrowed in frustration. This person was good at running and evading, he'll give him that, but this is getting annoying. Today was supposed to be his relax day, not 'chase some damn person around the ship' day.

The person was about to sprint off again, when something barreled in and the attacker only barely managed to jump out of a way, but that gave the rest of the commanders enough time to surround the intruder.

"Nice, Jozu!" Thatch said with a grin. He pointed the sword at the figure. "You going to to give up now? Messing with Whitebeard pirates was a pretty dumb idea." The person didn't say anything, nor could any of them see his face to tell who it is. Then Marco saw Thatch do a double take.

"That hat…" he muttered, narrowing his eyes at it. Marco looked at the hat in question, wondering what caught Thatch's attention. "That's Ace's hat." The person tensed, hand minutely tightening around his dagger.

"And where is he?"

Marco was not expecting that feminine voice _at all, _and by the shocked looks on his brother's faces, they probably weren't either. They must've taken too long to answer, because the person suddenly appeared in front of Thatch, the cloak flaring just enough to see a hand on a sword.

"THATCH!" Marco yelled, already jumping over and about to kick the person out into the ocean, and for a brief second their eyes met, and he was hit with a nostalgic memory of piercing golden eyes.

"SION!" Marco didn't have time to realize who it was since his kick was already mid-swing, but when a certain fire brat jumped in his way, he knew this wasn't going to end well. None of the other commanders could do anything either, all of them being too far to do anything. If only Vista was here; he's the only one quick enough to jump in between and stop his kick and prevent him from sending Ace to the watery graves.

The person turned around, one hand pulling out her sword backwards, the other pushing Ace just far enough out of the way to block his kick by bringing it straight up to meet his foot. The resulting clash created a shockwave that pushed back anyone without a firm footing and her hood flew off, revealing ebony hair and bright yellow eyes. She twisted to the side, absorbing the attack and sending it out to the sea and thankfully prevented any casualties.

"A-Ah…" The sword clattered to the ground and the girl gripped her wrist, gritting her teeth in pain, before sinking down to her knees. Ace fell down on his knees next to her, unsure what to do.

"Oi, oi. Is this another one of your crewmates? I thought we rounded them all up," Thatch asked, peering around Ace to get a better look at the girl. The girl, Sion, gave a short bark of laughter before huffing in pain again.

"You did. I'm not part of his crew. But when I heard that a certain stupid fire idiot (Ace flinched) went to go _challenge the strongest man in the world_ (Ace shrank back) I went after him," she replied, reaching for her sword with her good hand.

"S-Sion...your wrist," Ace whispered, bringing everyone's attention back to the injury.

"I held the sword weirdly when I blocked his kick," she explained, trying to rotate it. "I must've sprained it."

"You didn't have to attack us," Marco said angrily, crossing his arms. He refused to feel bad about almost breaking her wrist, since it was her fault for attacking them in the first place.

"I didn't attack you," she replied, rolling her eyes. "I literally just jumped onto the ship and was about to ask the first person I saw where Ace was when he started yelling bloody murder, so I knocked him out. And then...yeah…."

Izou huffed before striding over and kneeling in front of them. "Let me see your wrist." The girl eyed him warily, pulling her wrist closer to herself in hesitation. "I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to see how bad it is." After a few more seconds of silence, the girl obediently held it out for Izou to take. Izou carefully circled his fingers around the delicate wrist, squeezing the joint as the girl hissed in pain.

"L-Let go of her!" Ace shouted, flames starting to pool around his shoulders. His friend yanked her wrist back and shoved Izou away before the flames could reach him.

"For fuck's sake, Ace, calm down!" she growled, grabbing the hat off her neck and slamming it down onto his head. "And the next time you lose your hat, _you'll lose your head." _Ace immediately cooled down, and Marco regarded the girl with an impressed stare. Ace wasn't one to listen to anyone (but that could be because he was on an enemy ship) but immediately calmed down when his friend demanded it.

Izou calmly approached again and grabbed the girl's wrist, who flinched at the contact. Ace gritted his teeth, but said nothing this time, choosing instead to glare at Izou, promising murder if anything happens to his friend.

"I'm Izou," his brother said casually, gently pulling the girl up to her feet and Ace followed her, still glaring at everyone. Eleison gripped Ace's forearm as if to prevent him from setting himself on fire, before replying.

"I'm Eleison. I'm sorry for kicking you earlier. I really wanted to shake them off somehow." She looked at Thatch. "And sorry for almost stabbing your hair with my dagger. I really needed you out of my way."

Thatch spluttered, hands held defensively over his precious hair. "Y-You were aiming for my hair?!"

Eleison shrugged. "Was either your hair or your face. Had to get you out of my way somehow." She took a step back away from the other commanders and closer to Ace's side, her good hand still holding on to Ace.

"And what are you doing here, yoi," Marco asked, leaning against the railing. He still didn't trust this person, not after that display of strength. She was easily as strong as one of the Commanders, a thought that didn't sit well with him. Eleison turned to glare at him, and again, he couldn't help but feel that he's seen her somewhere before.

"To grant three wishes" she said sarcastically, and Marco could feel a headache coming on. "I'm not here to assassinate Whitebeard, unlike this idiot who I'm actually here for." She gave a tug on Ace's arm for emphasis before turning around and storming away, pulling Ace with her. The commanders watched with mild awe as the girl actually threw Ace to the other side of the ship, pausing only to tell them that if they followed, she'll run them through with their own spinal cord, before disappearing after Ace.

"Hm." Everyone looked at Jozu, who was standing silently by the entire time. "That went well."

* * *

Eleison was tired.

She managed to track down the Moby Dick, following elusive rumors from island to island. When she finally found it, her only choice was to land on the ship, since she decided to scout via Moon Walk instead of boat, and was immediately greeted with a panicky pirate who tried to stab her the second she tried asking him a question.

And that led to the great Moby Dick Chase that ended with a sprain wrist, a few injured prides, and a fuming pineapple head.

The last one really ticks her off.

It's not like she purposely decided to have this whole thing take place; she just wanted to know where Ace was and solve this problem quietly and efficiently. But of course not, that's not what Whitebeard pirates do; they do everything loud and 'grawr' and whatever.

Eleison is just _so_ tired.

She finished bandaging her wrist, tweaking it a little to see how badly sprained it was, before dropping it in resignation.

"S-Sion?" Eleison looked down at Ace, who was sprawled on the deck, little cuts and bruises littered across his torso, but otherwise unharmed. He looked as exhausted as she did, if not more, with guilt deeply threaded into his expression. Before throwing him, she had this whole rant planned out, from beginning to end. The end obviously a foot up his ass.

"I'm glad," she said instead. She sank down to her knees, straddling Ace, and pressed her forehead to his shoulder. "I'm so glad you're okay, Ace." The adrenaline that kept her moving throughout the whole ship disappeared, and her body sagged in exhaustion. She felt shaky arms wrap around her torso and a head burying into the crook of her neck.

"I-I...sorry," he croaked out, arms tightening around her even more. The two of them sat in silence, and Eleison was glad for that, but there are answers she needed. She pulled up and pressed her forehead against his, getting his attention again.

"You're not chained, you're not starved, and you're still on this ship," she started off, listing things she's noticed while her short time on the ship. "Your nakama are fine, I saw them while I was running, and you look like you're lost, and not the physical kind. Is there something I'm missing here?"

Ace stared for a second longer before sighing, darting his eyes away.

"They…they want me to join them," Ace muttered, and it all clicked. Whitebeard did have a habit of recruiting new super rookies into his crew, calling them all sons or daughters. "He, Whitebeard, he wants me to be his son."

Ooh, the taboo.

"And you're thinking about it now, aren't you?" Ace hesitated to answer, but gave the slightest nod in agreement. "So what's the problem?"

"I-I...having a father...that's just...I don't know if I want that." Eleison sighed, sitting up and pressing Ace down into her arms, her good hand raising up to idly rub the back of his head.

"You only say that because you have only one idea of a father, and it's a horrible one. You've seen how the Whitebeard pirates act around their captain, you've been here long enough. Now the only question is if _you_ want that, too."

Ace tensed up beneath her hand, but didn't do anything else. She continued on, now knowing what Ace really wanted.

"He really does treat them all like his sons, you know. The Whitebeard pirates are literally one big happy family on the touch side of dysfunctional insane. You'd fit right in."

"I tried to kill him over a hundred times," Ace objected weakly.

"I'm sure he thought it was cute of you. His own sons fished you out, didn't they? For all you're concerned, they're just waiting for you to give in."

Ace didn't have a reply to that, and slumped even more in her hold. She laughed and pulled his head up, giving her friend a wide grin.

"I can't believe I searched almost half of the New World to convince you to join the Whitebeard Pirates," she laughed, standing up, and pulling Ace with her. "Now go give your soon-to-be father your answer. I'm going to go find your room and sleep."

"I feel like you're marrying me off," he muttered, but stood up anyway.

"No, I'm pimping you out. There's a difference."

* * *

Edward Newgate was thrilled. Ace had came into his room without the desire for his head, a first for the pirate, and finally said he wanted to take on his mark. His sons were equally thrilled at the addition of a new brother, and his growing family welcomed Ace with open arms and a party, and not even the nurses could reprimand him for drinking booze in celebration.

Not like it stopped him before.

The man settled down on his bed, finally done helping putting back anyone who managed to pass out, before a quiet knock pulled him out of his thoughts. He briefly wondered who would still be conscious at this hour, the party ending hours ago and his sons mostly knocked out from the alcohol.

"Come in," he invited, shifting into a more comfortable position on his bed. He turned on the closest lamp beside him that was only enough to light up half the room, the entrance still shrouded in hazy darkness. The door clicked open, and he raised an eyebrow when the cloaked person Marco told him about entered, leaving the door wide open to let the moonlight spill in.

The two regarded each other in silence, the brat hiding her face under a hood.

"May I?" She asked quietly, gesturing in front of her. He nodded and she took one step inside, not even close enough to get out from under the moonlight.

"So what do you want, brat?" He asked, grabbing a sake bottle and taking a long swig from it. Whoever this person is, she did not want to join his crew or become his child, but was only here for Ace.

"I..." she hesitated, nervously shifting around, glancing over her shoulder to see if anyone was intruding. If she wanted this to be a private conversation, the brat should just close the damn door.

She sighed before standing up straight, confidence suddenly pooling as she reached up and yanked off her cloak in one fluid moment, and the sight that greeted him shocked him enough to almost drop his alcohol.

He stared in silence as she quickly moved to shut the door behind her, breathing heavily in shaking fear. It was enough to pull him out of the surprise and observe the girl more closely. She looked up at him with tired eyes before slumping down onto the ground, curling her cloak around her fingers.

Piercing golden eyes.

Platinum hair that changes black under light.

Two traits he's only seen on a handful of people.

He grinned, finally connecting the pieces together, why this brat said nothing and only showed her hair, why she is so hesitant to reveal herself to his crew. Although he was still missing the whole picture, he had enough to understand.

"Minai and Irin, eh?"

* * *

**Would you look at that. Progress.**

**Tell me what you think!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Yees. Progress. You all proud of me?**

**Thank you for all the reviews and follows and favorites; believe that I'm overly excited every time someone gives me a review, I just don't know how to reply...I'm a meek, sad little child like that.**

**Do you guys think my writing is fine enough to start a different story, one without an OC? I don't know if my characterization is up to par, so tips are most welcomed.**

**Thank you for your support and patience!**

**Don't own One Piece.**

* * *

Normally Marco wouldn't spare a second glance to anything that posed no harm to Oyaji or his brothers, but this was different. He didn't know why, but their 'guest' reminded him of too many people. People that did both harm and good and psychotic activities, and then other questionable things that shouldn't be named in the presence of children. Or weak willed pirates.

Ace officially (and Eleison unofficially) joined the crew, and the Moby Dick has never been livelier. To his dismay, he was right about his brothers wrecking havoc; Thatch along with Ace proved to be an unstoppable pranking force, and not even he could avoid them anymore. The only one who got away from the idiots was Oyaji and sometimes Izo, not very surprising.

What was more surprising was that the only other person that got away was Eleison, their mysterious self-invited guest.

They don't even dare pranking her after the first attempt which ended with a mast, a naked Thatch and Ace, a lot of rope in a lot of interesting places and a few scarred memories. He doesn't blame them, he's pretty sure at least half the crew had nightmares about her retaliation if the nightly screaming was any kind of indication. He gives her points for creativity, that's for sure; he didn't think the human body could actually _bend_ like that….

For some reason Ace wouldn't say anything about his mysterious friend, much to the crew's eternal disappointment. Anything other than to not piss her off under any circumstances, especially the _special_ circumstance that women particularly have. Izo took particular glee at the lack of information and setted up a betting pool, getting almost all of them (including their allies) to participate. Those poor suckers, they never learn.

"Hey Marco! " An arm was slung over his shoulder, pulling him away from his very needed peace. He silently bidded his small window of relaxation good bye before looking at the cause. Thatch grinned like a mad man as Ace appeared on his other side, a similar grin on his face.

"What, yoi," he sighed. He folded his arms over the railing and leaned against it, staring out into the sea in favor of paying attention to his friends.

"Oyaji said we're docking on an unknown island tomorrow, and Ace and I were planning on exploring, you wanna come with?" Thatch asked, wiggling his eyebrows. "Ace is going to convince Sion, too! It'll be fun!"

Marco thought about the stack of papers waiting for him back at his own cabin and sighed. "I have watch duty tonight, and a bunch of reports to do for both First and Second Division," he replied, already thinking of the long night ahead of him. Thatch immediately looked like a kicked puppy. "I'll let you know tomorrow, yoi."

Thatch shrugged, momentarily pleased with his answer, and skipped off to grab them a couple of beers. Ace remained by his side in silence, a rare miracle from the fire man. If Marco learned anything about the fire brat (other than his obvious trust issues) is that Ace is only silent when narcolepsy slaps him in the face. Any other time could lead to the apocalypse.

"I know Sion seems suspicious," he began, and Marco raised a questioning glance. It was an unspoken rule that no one raised attention about how much Marco felt uncomfortable around Ace's friend. No one but Izo, that is. For some reason, Izo took it on as his sacred duty for the two of them to become friends, but both sides were also ignoring his attempts, much to his brother's annoyance and his relief. "But she's a good person, really. She's just... really insecure about being on a pirate ship. Especially Oyaji's. Because...of stuff. Yeah. Stuff."

"If she's uncomfortable, she doesn't have to stay, yoi," Marco countered. It didn't seem like a problem when she was on Ace's ship, so that obviously wasn't the reason. She also didn't have any problems with the rest of the crewThatch came back with three beers and handed one to him and Ace. "We're not forcing her to stay. She's free to leave."

"Maybe she wants to join us, but is too shy to ask!" Thatch laughed, taking a swig from the bottle. Marco silently doubted that; Oyaji would've asked long ago if that was the case. "Think of the pranks we could pull if she's on our side!" Thatch had a dreamy look on his face, imagining the horrors he could bring down on his brothers like he hasn't done enough last week with Ace. The two of them managed to dye all of Ninth Division's hair bright neon pink and then simultaneously put flash bombs in all of their beds. The result was devastating for the eyes.

Marco sighed again and drank, casually ignoring his friend's need to prank the ship until it's reduced to kindling.

"H-Haha... yeah, maybe! " Ace said hastily, drowning his words in alcohol and coughing out into the ocean below. If Oyaji saw one of his sons wasting good booze, he might actually have a heart attack. Instead he and Thatch just watched him splutter and fumble with the bottle, sprouting something about loyalty and friends before chucking the mostly empty bottle into the ocean.

Ace suddenly looked a thousand times more uncomfortable and stopped rambling. "A-Anyway! I'm going to turn in early so I can ask Sion about tomorrow, later!"

Ace ran off, waving over his shoulder as he sprinted to wherever Eleison was.

"Man, Oyaji made a good call bringing Ace into the family," Thatch sighed, propping his arm up on the railing as he stared where Ace disappeared. "Things are always exciting now!" Marco turned back to the ocean, sipping his beer and listening to his brother's laughters in the background, feeling oddly peaceful for once.

"Yeah..." Maybe he'll join them tomorrow, after all.

* * *

Marco punched the floor.

Every life choice, every single decision that led up to this one very moment, he regrets all of them. Every single last one. He can't believe he actually for this stupid trap; it should've been obvious as Thatch's sexuality, but he let his guard down just enough for those two idiots to pull him into this situation.

"...You wouldn't mind if I do that thing with the mast to them again, right?"

At least he wasn't the only one. Small victories.

"...Only if you let me help, yoi."

"Deal."

There were many things he'd rather do than be handcuffed to Eleison in the middle of a lake, and based off her dark look of revenge, she could probably name even more. If he wasn't playing victim to this prank, he would have felt sorry for whatever she had planned for them.

But now? He just wants to see them _suffer._

He chuckled darkly to himself, already thinking of ways to punish the idiots who thought it was a good idea to mess with him. Just because he's normally too tired to put up with their bullshit doesn't mean he's just going to let them get away with it every time. He would've thought Thatch learned the last time a prank went too far.

What cruel, sadistic asshole would invent disappearing ink in the first place?

"How long do you think they'll leave us here?" He pulled himself out of his dark musings and glanced over at his companion. He gave the handcuffs an annoyed glare before shrugging.

"Could be hours. These are seastone cuffs too, so I can't just fly us out of here, yoi," he replied, sighing in defeat.

He, along with Eleison, Thatch and Ace, headed out onto the island after docking, the latter two suspiciously excited for the adventure. That should've been a fucking warning beacon that something was about to go terribly wrong, but he was too distracted by the awkwardness hovering between Eleison and himself to realize their intent. But she must've been just as distracted, because she got caught, too, and that sadly made him feel a bit better about himself.

Somehow, they managed to handcuffed them together and pushed them down a pit and into an underground cave, coincidentally landed on the one small rocky island in the middle of a massive lake. There was a trickle of sunlight that washed over them, but the only way out is either across the lake or back up the hole. There was no way Eleison could swim with their combined weight, and the seastone cuffs prevented Marco just flying them out of there. So they were stuck. Ah, yes. So much luck. It's overflowing.

Once Thatch and Ace made sure they weren't about to die anytime soon, they _left them there._ Got up and walked away (with cackling laughter and shouts of triumphs) and most likely back to the ship (to brag about their apparently victory). There's a rule against nakama killing, but shit, does Marco want to tear out their organs and feast on them.

"You okay?" Eleison asked softly, slightly jostling him with her hand. He lifted his head off her shoulder and groaned. He hated seastone, and adding on the exhaustion from watch duty and the paperwork, he felt like he was a second away from keeling over. It was a kind pity that Eleison didn't question it when he accidentally dropped his head on her shoulder an hour after of silence, going as far as adjusting their position so they're more comfortable.

"Yeah. Sorry about this, yoi," he replied, slumping back against her. He's going to rip them into shreds when they get out of this, but for now, catching up on loss sleep sounds like a good plan. Will give him energy later to peck out some eyes later, too.

What felt like hours later, Marco was still bored out of his mind. There was absolutely nothing to do, and he took a small nap to make up for the lost time. It still felt too tense to talk, but he was slightly thankful that they were both pretending that it didn't exist.

"Do you hate me?" she suddenly asked. He glanced over, but she was resolutely turned away, staring hard at the water as if it was much more interesting than looking at him. There was a high blush on her cheeks, and it kind of looked like she regretted mustering up the courage to break the silence.

"I don't hate you," he said careful in his words, "I just don't know you, yoi. You walk around the ship like you're uninvited, and it's uncomfortable for you as it for us." _Or for me_ he didn't say. She didn't turn to face him, choosing instead to continue tracing nonsense patterns on the water's surface.

"I don't hate you," he repeated, this time his voice firm in conviction.

He felt like an asshole. He knew they didn't know each other very well (or at all), but he didn't think she thought he hated her. She hasn't done anything to warrant that kind of anger, but she always looks like it was well deserved. At least the one saving grace about this whole incident is that he can clear up the misunderstandings.

"So…does that I'm allowed to wreak havoc like the rest of you?" He laughed at her mischievous smile and nodded.

"You sure you don't want to join us? You'd fit right in," he asked. It felt like the normally pressuring tension that swam between them evaporated, leaving them relaxed in each other's presence. Maybe Izo was right; she might not be his sister, but he wouldn't turn down a potential friend, either. She already got along with most of the other commanders (especially Jozu for some reason, girl's best friend indeed) and the only thing was missing was actually the pledge of loyalty.

She gave him a sad smile before looking away again. "My loyalties lie elsewhere. Ace is...he's my friend, and I treasure him. When he asked me to stay on the Moby Dick with him for a little while longer, I didn't see the harm. So I stayed."

She doesn't seem to be the type to be a backstabber, but then again, there were many people in the world that wouldn't hesitate to prove him otherwise. It was extremely unlikely that Oyaji would allow anyone who would do his family harm to walk free around his ship, but it has happened before.

"It's not like I'm going to get anything from pissing any of you off, so don't worry about me backstabbing your father," she said as if answering his thoughts. He smiled and stared back up at the hole, wondering how long it's been since they first fell down here. There was absolutely nothing to do until they decided to come back and drop them the key to the cuffs. For all he knows, they might've forgotten about them. Considering the idiots who got them into this situation, that wasn't very far fetched.

Marco glanced over at the girl again, who was staring out into the lake in thought. He focused on one of her more striking traits: her piercing yellow eyes. He's seen that somewhere before, no doubt about it, but where and who was lost to him.

"Hey E-"

"Did you hear that?" Eleison asked softly, cutting off his words. Marco blinked but slowly scanned his surroundings. He had to really focus to feel it, but it was there. A murderous aura lurking under the waters.

"Yeah…." he finally replied, getting a bit more anxious. If someone really did attack them, Eleison would have to defend them both, the cuffs prevented him from doing anything other than being burden. Fucking hooray. First Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, and he's useless in the face of the enemy. Thatch and Ace had the worse timing known to all of piracy, and he's fought against Gold fucking Roger.

Eleison turned to face him and was about to say something, but her jaw went slack as she stare over his shoulder. Marco felt his blood run cold when he heard a squelching noise, as if there was something right behind him.

This can't be happening.

He slowly turned around, careful not to make any sudden movements, and came face to face with a tentacle. Maybe he's hallucinating. He blinked. Nope, still a tentacle.

"That's, uh. That's a tentacle, yoi," he said intelligently staring at the orange limb. He's clearly at his best right now, with all these outstanding conclusions he's reaching.

"Yes, um. I think. I think that's a Kraken?" Eleison added on, a bit meek in her tone. At least she made a better observation than he did. That's a tentacle, no fucking shit, Marco. How he was voted 'most calm in times of crisis' would forever be lost to him. "M-Maybe it's a nice- oh shit!"

Marco was yanked to the side as a tentacle came crashing down where he was seconds before, a narrow crater forming from the impact. If Eleison didn't pull him out of the way, that attack could've given him a concussion. Fucking seastone cuffs. There was only so much land to run around, they couldn't jump into the water, they couldn't fly to safety; there was practically nothing they could do.

"I knew I should've brought my sword," Eleison groaned, fumbling to stand up with Marco at her side. He glanced over at her hip, and true enough, there was no sword. At most, she had a few daggers and her rope dart, but that was it. He himself only had his dagger, and he wasn't sure how useful that would be with this seastone cuffs on. Plus, they're fighting against a _Kraken_: the fucking legendary creature of the sea. The ocean is it's domain; there was no way Marco could get into the water without dropping like an anchor, which means Eleison couldn't jump in unless she wanted to drown, too.

Well, there were worst ways to go, but fuck is Oyaji going to be _pissed_.

Another tentacle slammed down, and the two of them jumped out of the way. They were slowly getting pushed to the edge, and then when his foot almost slipped off, he knew they were trapped.

"On a scale of Marines to Whitebeard, how much do you trust me right now?" Marco stopped, turned, and stared at Eleison, who looked determined for an answer. Despite knowing that this was not the time to ask about trust issues, he answered.

"I'd say about an Izo, yoi," he replied, shrugging to himself. Izo was his dear brother, but damn if that asshole had it out for everyone on the ship. Thatch thought he was the pranking master? He had _nothing_ on Izo; that psychopath could traumatize the entirety of the Whitebeard Pirates without lifting a finger.

He would know; he was on the end of one of his 'pranks' before. He seriously thought he was going to die that day.

"That's good enough for me." Eleison suddenly looked like she had plan. A dangerous, stupid, possibly life threatening plan. A lot like Izo. "So I never did this with another person before, but first time for everything."

Marco knew he could potentially die from whatever idea she had, but the only thing he could think was '_is she talking about sex?'_

Eleison suddenly whirled around, wrapping her arms around his waist and hands clasping against his back. Before he could utter out his disbelief there was this jarring sensation that felt like someone whacked him across the face with a velvet wrapped brick.

"H-Holy shit you're really heavy," Eleison rushed out, and he blinked back into his surroundings. He vaguely registered her scrambling to find a better hold around him, hands scrabbling against his back. It would probably be easier if he didn't act like a corpse, but he was too busy being shocked at the lack of land beneath his feet.

"You can _fly, yoi!?"_ he shouted, which wasn't the best idea, but he was a bit too shocked to think otherwise. Especially now he alerted the Kraken of their new location. Five more tentacles rose from the water, and he could just barely make out the creature's massive head beneath the lake, and shit, it looked _pissed._

"T-This will be much easier if you stop playing dead, Marco!" Eleison gritted out. That finally snapped him back out of his shock, and he looped his arms around Eleison's neck for a better hold. She gave him a small glare before that was blurred out, the same feeling from before whipping through his body. But this time, he watched. Watched her kick off the air and propelled the two of them higher into the air right before a tentacle closed around where they were half a second ago.

Eleison jumped once more, and Marco felt like he was going to throw up. He was used to flying (in his phoenix form, yeah) but this was not flying. This was, at best, a torture technique to pull your bones out of your body.

Eleison did one last jump and they finally made it through the hole and away from the hostile Kraken, dropping him on the dirt before sprawling down next to him. Normally Marco would thank whatever forsaken miracle that just saved his fiery ass, but his mind was reeling about Eleison.

That was a Marine's technique: Soru. Why did Eleison know a Marine's technique?

"You weigh a lot." Marco looked over at Eleison. She was lying on her stomach with her head cushioned by her arm, shielding her cheek from the mossy dirt underneath them. She had a triumphant, but tired smile, understandable since she did save them from being octopus food.

He snorted and rolled onto his back. "I assure you, it's all muscle." She giggled and sat up, shaking her hair from the grass and flowers that managed to cling to her hair. When he saw a loose flower barely hanging on, he instinctively raised his hand and plucked out a daisy that managed to hide itself at the tips of her hair. He had no idea what possessed him to do that and was about to drop the evidence down to the floor, but Eleison already turned to see the guilty flower in his hand.

She smiled. "Thank you." She gently pulled the daisy out from his fingers (and he marveled at how smooth they felt; you'd think a swordsman would have rough calluses, like Vista), fiddling with the petals before setting it on the ground. She pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her arms over them, almost curling up in on herself. It looked painfully natural, her trying to hide from the rest of the world in her own little ball. He felt the itch of curiosity rise, but brutally trampled them down into the dirt again.

Eleison suddenly sat up straight, her eyes wide in shock. He glanced up at her before sitting up himself, curious as to what caught her attention. His eyes fell on a small glittering object in the grass, and he could feel his own eyes grow wide in similar shock.

"No way." She pushed herself to her hands and knees and crawled forward until she was an arms reach away from the object. He kept his eyes trained on the object, afraid it was just a trick of the light. She carefully picked it up and held it in the air so they could both see it. "They can't be _that_ stupid...right?"

"You overestimate Thatch," Marco replied in awe before breaking out in a grin.

Those idiots dropped the key. The key to the cuffs.

Eleison quickly turned around and shoved it into the lock and they held their breath as if to hold their hope in. If this key turned out to be a fake, Marco will bash his head in with a tree.

She twisted the key, and the cuffs fell off.

His head gets to see another day.

"I've never been so thankful that Ace is a natural idiot," Eleison groaned out in relief, throwing her hands up in the air and stretching. Marco had to agree. They wouldn't be able to do anything without the cuffs gone, and then that key was just a silver lining in the grass.

The day was finally looking up. Eleison must've thought so too, because her joyous laughter was practically overflowing with mirth. Infectious too, because he broke out in laughter alongside her. He felt oddly pleased about his new relationship with Eleison. It only took getting shoved down a hole and nearly getting eaten by a Kraken, but the outcome was worth it.

"So...I know I said I wanted to do the mast thing, but I think, with the two of us, we can do one even better." She sounded so gleeful, you would think she was handed his bounty worth of Beli instead of planning sadistic revenge against Thatch and Ace, his brothers and friends.

They should've been friends the moment she stepped foot on the Moby Dick.

* * *

Thatch went to grab another beer. He's been giddy all morning and afternoon, almost bouncing off walls with a permanent grin on his face. After pulling off the extremely successful prank on both Marco _and_ Eleison, he felt he deserved a gold star for his awesomeness. Or another beer. Definitely another beer.

He couldn't get the memory of Marco's and Eleison's horrified expressions when he slapped on the cuffs, or when Ace shoved them down the hole, or when they were falling down the same hole. It was _glorious_. He wished he brought a camera to take a picture to commemorate the moment. Then print it out and fucking _frame it._

Honestly, he didn't think the plan would go that well. He figured he'd have to go with Plan B, which was run like fuck for his life and hide under Oyaji's chair until they forgave them (which could've been years, but he could wait them out); Ace could take care of himself, he's a big boy. And made of fire.

But lady luck was on his side today, and he made sure all of his brothers knew that he bested the old timer who sucked the fun and joy out of life (ironically enough) AND had his revenge on Eleison, the one witch who was scarier than their own doctor. Which is a pretty amazing feat, because Teresa was one hell of a scary woman.

He should've known better than to ever question one of (or any of) Izo's plans, they always work out. Of course, finding that underground cave was all his doing. It was the perfect place to trap them, and he was proud of himself for finding it.

He whirled around with a bounce in his step. His grin didn't falter as he skipped out the door and back onto the deck, but when he nearly ran into Eleison, he thought hell just erupted from the ocean.

He smashed himself into the wall, his eyes widening in horror. "S-S-S-Sion!?" An illusion. It's an illusion. There's no way she could be here, right in front of him, on the ship, not on the island. The cook blinked another five times, but the 'illusion' didn't disappear. Clearly had one too many beer bottles, because there is no possible way that is Ele-

"Thatch! There you are." Fuck shit, she's real. _REAL._

Eleison moved closer, reaching out and yanking on his arm. "Let's go explore now, I'm dying of boredom." What.

_What?!_

_WHAT._

"WHAT." Eleison turned around with a confused glance.

"Ace told me that we're going to explore the island today? Right?" She tilted her head to the side, subtly asking what was wrong with him and boy if he had a week he couldn't even finish. "I thought...explore?" Thatch had absolutely no clue what was going on. Was that successful prank a dream? It would make sense; how else would he get away with pranking Marco _and_ Eleison? But it felt so real, like it only happened a few hours ago, not just in his head. Heck, he's pretty sure Ace was being just as excited as he was. Did he have the same dream, too? They were pretty excited about the prank….

"What." Because now his entire vocabulary is roughly one word and a bunch of flailing.

"Marco went to go get Ace, so I went to go get you," she continued, more focused on dragging him across the ship than bringing attention to his lack of intelligence. That earned a bunch of stares and snickers and Thatch feared for the worst. He _did_ run around the ship screaming about his victory...if it turns out to be a dream, he's never going to live it down. "There they are! Marco! Ace!"

Eleison yanked them around the corner, and he saw Marco and Ace, the latter as pale as a ghost. Thatch couldn't tease, he probably looks even worse than him, he's sure his hair is actually wilting under the stress. Marco turned around when he heard Eleison and smiled.

"You guys took your sweet time, yoi," Marco said and held his hand out. Thatch was completely confused (but mostly horrified) when Eleison took his hand, and was moving suspiciously closer to the phoenix like they were. Like they were _more than friends_. Last he remembered, those two had the whole 'this is totally awkward why am I here' thing going on, and was about a second away from joining Ace in combusting out of anxiety.

"Sorry, it took me a while to find Thatch," Eleison replied, She moved closer to Marco's side and his friend and brother of years and years (and Thatch thought he was going to start hyperventilating) leaned down to give Eleison a kiss on the cheek.

"WHAAT?!" Thatch couldn't help the shout (it was a shout, not a shriek) that alerted everyone and their mother about his growing insanity. Ace went from white as Oyaji's moustache to just deathly pale as the fire man flew backwards and pinned himself to the railing. He whimpered something out like 'oh god I died and went to hell I'm so sorry Luffy' before falling on the floor, his newest brother keeling over and passing out from the shock. Thatch would be concerned about him falling off the ship and into the ocean below like an anchor Devil Fruit users are, but he scrambled back until his back slammed against the railing.

"Huh? What's wrong, Thatch? Ace?" Eleison turned around and Marco wrapped his arms around her waist, his head resting on the crook of her neck. They both looked so..._cute together._ It physically hurt him to think that.

And that was enough. He can't take anymore of this. He yelled (very manly, and if anyone says otherwise they're a lying liar who's pants he's going to set on fire) and climbed over the railing.

"This is a dream," he chanted and laughed hysterically.. "Just a dream. Gotta wake up. Just a dream, oh my god just a dream." He babbled and jumped out into the ocean, feeling free from all insanities in his mind.

Yes. Just a dream.

* * *

Marco watched the hysteric cook pitch himself over the railing, screaming something about his dying sanity as he plummeted down onto the shore below. His dear friend looked a bit suicidal before he did jump to his doom, but Marco couldn't help the satisfied grin that crept onto his face. He supposed it was a good thing they were docked at the shore, or Thatch really could've drowned. As it is now, he's perfectly content with leaving Thatch floating in the ocean below. He was in no danger of drowning, since he was facing up.

"Well. That went better than expected," Eleison said, voice lit with mirth and amusement. Of course, he was just as amused as she was if his following laughter was any clue. Their plan went off with a hitch with Eleison predicting exactly how the entire thing would play out, but had to admit that Thatch throwing himself overboard was an unexpected bonus. He certainly underestimated her ability to prank and had to admit it was almost on par with Izo. Not that the crossdresser would be pleased to hear that. Or anyone on the ship, actually; god forbid if those two actually start a pranking war on the Moby Dick.

The result would've been catastrophic. He'd rather face down an Admiral than get caught in the crossfire.

After the two freed themselves from the cuffs and thank whatever unseen force caused the small miracle, the two hatched the plan. Or Eleison did and Marco listened with interest, sometimes adding in his own ideas. It was extremely simple, but couldn't deny it's effectiveness.

The plan was to pretend that they didn't go explore the island yet and find Ace and Thatch again. Except they would act like lovers. It was the perfect mind flip; before the (now dubbed) Kraken incident, the two of them couldn't even stand in the same vicinity without one of them feeling uncomfortable and leaving. So if they suddenly acted sickeningly cute, those two idiots would probably faint.

Which they did. Or in Thatch's case, threw himself overboard. Close enough.

"Remind me to never get on your bad side, yoi." He pulled himself away from her side and leaned over the railing. "Someone should fish him out."

She gave him a look. "I'm wearing a dress. You're going to make me go after your dear brother like this?" He gave her an exaggerated look from toe to head before shrugging.

"My brothers would be thrilled, yoi." From what he's seen from her short time on the Moby Dick, her wardrobe was mostly dresses of various colors and styles, varying from simple summer dresses to dresses that resemble combat uniforms than actual dresses, but all of them managed to have his brothers run into walls with drool painting the wood.

He laughed when she shoved him, more playful than threatening. "You heathen." She walked closer to railing and leaned over to look at Thatch's near dead body. "He'll be fine. He's the Fourth Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, I'm sure he can take a little splash every now and then. Especially since he's friends with Ace, who probably narcolepsy his way into the ocean some way some how."

Marco snorted and glanced down at Ace, who was sprawled on the floor like a swooning maiden with swirled eyes. He gave the fire brat a little nudge with his foot, causing him to roll over on his back. He stared at Ace, then at Thatch, then at Eleison, then back at Ace.

"What?" Eleison asked. She jumped up and sat on the railing. He turned around and leaned against the railing and crossed his arms. He stared hard at Ace immobile body, gears turning in his head as he came up with part two of the 'revenge prank plan'.

"You know, they did pushed us down that hole, yoi," he started, letting his words sink in and catch her interest. He shot her his trademark relaxed grin and turned his head to stare out back at the island where there was a Kraken just waiting to scare his brothers into _never_ pranking him again. "And I'm sure that the Kraken is lonely."

Eleison's expression slowly morphed from confusion to undeniable glee and she jumped off the railing.

"I'll get the rope."

He smiled. "I'll go find a pipe."

An hour later, the Whitebeard Pirates studiously ignored the screams and wails that shook the entire island.

* * *

Izo did his best not to preen under the results of his subtle, but undoubtedly impressive plan. It would go completely to waste if anyone managed to trace the whole fiasco back to him, but it was hard not to take credit when it was so rightly due. Not only did he managed accomplishing step one of the Marco/Eleison relationship, there was absolutely no blame that fell on his shoulders, Thatch and Ace making good sacrifices for the cause and he felt pleased with how everything turned out.

The first time he saw Eleison glare at Marco, he knew they were just made for each other, almost a perfect match made on the untamed seas. Izo could practically the potential sparks flying up between them, even if those two did get off on the worst start. He had a small hope that fate would take care of them personally, but after a month of stilted tensions, Izo felt that he had to intervene. No, it was his duty to intervene. For the happiness of his brother and his friend.

When he overheard the subsequent plan to go exploring the unmarked island, Izo took it as the perfect opportunity to start 'Operation Get Marco A Girl Named Eleison', which was previously the cause of a lot of frustration; those two stubborn idiots couldn't even stand in the same room, let alone the same side of the ship without one leaving immediately. After planting some not-so-subtle ideas into Thatch, who eagerly relayed the plan to Ace, all he had to do was sit back and watch it unfold. They wouldn't even know what hit them.

He wanted to run back to his room and start phase two of the operation but held himself back for a minute longer to watch the two truly interact for the first time. It gave him a surge of satisfaction, knowing he was right. Again. Izo was never wrong about potential love, and he's certainly not wrong about this. All they needed was a well intentioned shove in the right direction.

When Eleison ran off to find some rope, he rounded the corner and revealed himself as casually as possible like he wasn't spying on them seconds ago. Marco looked surprised for about half second before schooling his face back to the calm, sleepy expression he was known for.

"I should've realized you were behind this," Marco sighed, sounding resigned and defeated at the same time.

Izo smiled. "I don't know what you're talking about," he replied in feigned innocence, but he sounded too smug to sound sincere. Marco immediately noticed and shook his head, leaving his accusation behind as he went to go find a pipe.

"Ace has one in his room," Izo called after him. Marco raised a lazy hand over his head, waving his thanks as he continued to walk away until disappearing around the corner. Izo glanced down at Ace's immobile form before walking over to the side of the ship to glance down at Thatch's unconscious body. He snorted and turned away, deciding to not interfere with their fun; it wasn't his fault those idiots messed up nor is he willing to defend them.

Besides, he had a plan to finish.

* * *

**Tell me what you think!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

**-Face desk- Augh life.**

**Thank you for your patience and support! You have no idea how happy it makes me to see your reviews and favorites and follows, and I hope this chapter does you justice.**

* * *

It's been almost two months since Phase One of 'Operation Get Marco a Girl' and Izou was just about ready to tear his hair out of frustration. There has been absolutely _no _progress in the plan at all. None, zero, zip, nothing. A lesser man would've given up

Sion certainly became more open to the Whitebeard Pirates, sure, but Izou was more concerned about her being more 'open' to a very specific member of the crew, one whose name started with M and ended with arco the Phoenix. It was nerve wracking to watch the girl flitter around like a natural heart breaker with a startling amount of his brothers (and sometimes sisters) but turned to Marco and gave the most friendzoned smile to ever exist.

Ace was absolutely no help. When Izou relayed his plan to him, the walking fire hazard turned so white you would've thought he slapped on some of his more intense make-up before running straight off the ship and into the ocean below. He was not happy to fish him out.

Ironically enough, Thatch was the one overly enthusiastic about the matchmaking idea and went as far as abusing his 'best friend' status to 'subtly' convince Marco. He wasn't so sure that bringing the idiot cook into the cause was the best course of action, however; his idea of getting them together was locking them in a closet until they started making out like teenagers. Eleison punched the door so hard it flew off it's hinges and hit an unsuspecting Jozu and his poor brother went flying off the ship. Thatch walked around with a black eye and a pout for the rest of the day.

Izou sighed and viciously glared at his innocent breakfast. He honestly didn't know what to do. There were no opportunities to take an advantage of nor any to make, and neither showed any interest in each other. He was about to shove them into a room himself if things didn't start looking up, or throw them both overboard for some sort of catalyst. Why must they be so stubborn?

"What are you frowning about, babe?" Thatch dropped himself next to Izou with a plate of pancakes and eggs clattering down on the table. Izou gave him a look, one that should clearly convey 'why I don't know I figured me constantly trying to get these two idiots together would give you a god damn clue' before turning back to his own food. "Still no luck?"

Izou snarled, viciously jabbing his fork into a piece of ham. "Those imbeciles are unconsciously doing everything in their power to not be together" he hissed angrily. "Why won't they just notice they're perfect for each other!?"

Thatch threw his head back and laughed loudly earning some curious stares. He waved them off with a grin before wrapping a comforting arm around him and Izou unconsciously leaned against his lover. "You know Marco, stubborn to a fault. That old man would do a lot more than everything to make sure no one pairs up with him after what happened last time. Shame, too. Eleison would be an awesome sister..."

"Last time you saw them act remotely like a couple, you jumped off the ship in a fit of fear. "

"Was a moment of weakness. I'm a changed man now."

Izou sighed tiredly. He really did wanted Marco to be happy, but the stubborn feather head was determined otherwise. It's been years since his brother with someone and that was just a random girl at some random backwater port. Not even worth Marco's time.

"Why is Sion so...so..._!_" Izou groaned loudly, flinging his hands up in the air and nearly slapping Thatch across the face. Thatch, predicting this attack, quickly moved out of the way before pulling his arms back down.

"So what?"

The sudden arrival of a new person had Thatch frozen in guilty fear and Izou merely looked up with disinterest. Marco stood over them with a passive, unimpressed expression, hand balancing a plate of food before sitting down next to Thatch.

"Stubborn. I tried putting her into a kimono and she ran off. You would think she would be fine with a traditional dress, since she's always running around in those combat dresses and skimpy skirts and shorts," Izou lied flawlessly with an additional eyeroll. He mentally cackled when Marco bought the lie and turned to his own food.

"You better hope you get her soon, then. I overheard Sion talking to Ace a few minutes ago and it sounds like she'll be leaving in a few days, yoi."

Izou slowly turned his head, letting the anger and the frustration he felt over the past few months build up before letting Marco suffer under his glare. Thatch made a little 'eep' sound and tumbled backwards, but Izou couldn't bring himself to care about his lover's possible concussion. "Leaving? What do you mean, _leaving_?"

Marco froze, his mouth hanging open with his spoon halfway up. He slowly closed his mouth, subtly leaning away from the seething man and shrugged carefully, trying to avoid sudden movements that may or may not cause sudden death. Izou was about to reach over and rip that ridiculous banana hair right off his scalp when his saving grace came bursting through the door like some avenging angel.

"Ace set the deck on fire again!"

Marco was out the door and shouting orders the second the door slammed open.

Thatch laughed before helping himself up and did his best impression of Ace inhaling the rest of his food, choking when a sausage refused to go down the right way. After thumping his chest to prevent his own death, he wiped what stuck to the corners of his mouth clean with his arm before looking out the door, where screams for water and 'I'M ON FIREEEE' echoed throughout the ship.

"It's been a while since Ace set the deck on fire," he mused out loud and veteran pirates who already experienced Ace's spontaneous combustion habits chuckled in agreement. "Should we go see what he did now?"

Izou gave him a bored look before turning back to his food. He felt too tired to see why Ace was an idiot this time.

"Marco has it under control. Besides, Ace didn't eat yet, so he'll eventually end up in here."

And then he can rip out some answers from a certain raven haired girl.

* * *

Eleison threw the unconscious fire idiot back onto the deck and crawled after him, collapsing against the railing with ragged breaths. She knew it was a bad idea throwing him into the ocean in the first place, but there was no other way to calm him down with minimal casualties, especially since he was already on fire. Of course, based off the screams and amount of flaming wood, it wasn't very 'minimal' anymore. She felt slightly guilty about the whole 'Ace going batshit insane and capsizing the ship in flames' since it was _technically_ her fault in the first place, especially when one of the unfortunate pirates that was set on fire jumped out into the sea screaming all the while.

At least it gave her the temporary good idea of throwing Ace into the sea. She only realized the consequences of having to fish his stupid ass out in the next second after she managed to kick him off the ship. Which is why she's in her current predicament: soaking wet and shivering from the cold winds that just so happened to be her current bane of existence.

Ace had, unsurprisingly, not taken the news of her leaving well. At most, she thought he would only throw a small fit and pout for the remainder of the day, but nearly burning down the ship was a bit...unexpected. Unexpecting enough to have her blankly stare at her best friend wail and set the deck on fire.

Eleison took one more glance at Ace before sighing loudly and wrapped her arms around herself in a failed attempt to keep her warmth inside her freezing body. She considered going back to her room to change, but that would involve leaving a guilty wet trail behind her like a snail. So instead she decided to wait for Ace to wake up and dry her clothes, hopefully soon or else her fingers and toes are going to turn numb.

She felt a little bad about leaving Ace on the ship, and she herself didn't want to...but Law asked for help. He never asks for help. That was concerning enough to head out as soon as possible. It was almost his birthday, too, so she figured she could kill two birds with one stone. It's been years since she's seen him in person, having most of their conversations over the Den Den Mushi. It just wasn't the same seeing him smile through a stupid snail, and she missed him dearly.

Suddenly her vision was cut off, the burnt deck disappearing under a curtain of darkness. She squeaked and scrambled to pull off whatever covered her head with cold stiff fingers. After a long embarrassing struggle, she finally managed to free herself and looked down at what was thrown over her head. It was a deep purple jacket, a bit faded from age but still warm under her fingers. She brushed her hand over the fabric before bundling it around her shoulders, relishing in the new warmth before turning around and blinking at the sight of sandaled feet.

"You'll catch a cold like that, yoi." She slowly looked up, craning her neck back to look up past a very familiar sculpted chest with an even more familiar tattoo until she saw Marco's disapproving stare. She gave a small smile as thanks and curled up further into his warm jacket, quietly humming in content as heat seeped into her freezing skin. Eleison wasn't worried about getting sick; she already got sick once this year already, so getting hit by another small time cold or life threatening disease is now officially impossible.

He sighed and sat down next to her and glanced over at Ace, who showed no sign of waking anytime soon because apparently the combined force of shock and getting slapped with water was too much for the pyromaniac. Figures the one of the countless times she's thrown him overboard, he chooses the moment when she's the one who has to fish his ass out to not stay conscious. Just her luck.

"You should change your clothes or you'll get sick," Marco urged again. She glanced over at Marco's subtly concern side look before waving it off. He was the one currently shirtless, so she didn't think he'd have any room to talk about getting sick.

"I'll be fine. I only get sick once a year and I filled that quota already. I just have to wait for this idiot" she nudged Ace with her foot, "to wake up so he can dry my clothes." Marco looked unimpressed about her magical immune system like he would regard Ace's self-proclaimed intelligence.

"Because the walk back to the cabin is such a long and tiring journey, yoi." Eleison grinned and gently punched his shoulder.

"Are you offering to carry me back? Oh, Marco, I think I'm _swooning _for you," she teased in response, placing the back of her hand on her forehead and sighed with as much sarcasm and exaggeration physically possible. Marco snorted as response and shoved her face away with his hand and she laughed, squirming to sit back up again.

"W-What happened?" Ace groggily sat up, flames unconsciously flickering awake with it's master and slowly drying his own clothes. After the flames settled down somewhat, Eleison kicked him in the foot.

"You passed out in the ocean and I had to save your dead ass," she replied, glaring at Ace as much as a huddled girl swaddled in a too-big jacket could muster. "Now dry my clothes before I throw you overboard again." Ace yelped in surprise when he finally saw the shirtless Marco, but quickly crawled over to her other side. The jacket was an amazingly warm comforter, and without it wrapped around her the winds relentlessly attacked her again. Ace thankfully wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, letting his fire slowly dance around her and finally, her clothes began to lose the water that dragged her down.

She sighed in content and leaned closer to Ace, who was happy to indulge with cuddles. "So like I was saying, I have to leave in a few days."

Ace groaned and tossed his head back hard enough to slam against the railing. "Can we talk about this after food? I think I'll accidentally set the deck on fire again otherwise," he pouted, turning his puppy eyes to her.

"I'd like to avoid that, thanks," Marco piped up and pushed himself to his feet. "You can hold onto the jacket, since it looks wet now. I'll just get another one so just return it to me later, yoi." Marco immediately turned back and headed for the galley, leaving Eleison spluttering and holding the jacket up in surprise. He was still _shirtless_, for Whitebeard's sake. Before she could helpfully point out his lack of upper clothing, Marco disappeared around the corner.

Ace stared hard at the purple jacket in her hands with scrunched up concentration, doing his very best to piece together what the fuck happened a few minutes prior before shrugging. For Ace, it probably required too much energy to figure out what happened when he was out and he hasn't even eaten breakfast yet, so any kind of concentration past three percent effort was probably too much for him. He stood up and stretched a bit, shaking his head to let his hair fluff out before offering a hand to her. She sighed and grabbed his hand, hoisting herself up onto her feet and dusting off her now dried dress.

"I'm going to put this back in the room, so you go to the galley first." She walked away with that, folding the jacket in her arms and hoisting her sword back up on her hip. Before she could round the corner, Ace was by her side again, draping his arm around her shoulders with a wide carefree grin.

"Let's go together!" Ace said, a huge grin stretching ear to ear. His whole 'crap I burnt the deck down again' was probably long forgotten like all the other random, insane and highly destructive things he's done. To be fair, having Ace accompany her wasn't _that_ bad as long as he doesn't suddenly start screaming and reduce the ship to a bunch of firewood.

Ten minutes and a near starved Ace later, Eleison finally pushed open the door to the galley and Ace bolted inside, almost knocking over the chef for food. Eleison sighed and trailed after, grabbing her own plate of pancakes in a much more calm, less destructive manner.

"Hey Sion! Ace! Over here!" Thatch yelled over the rowdy pirates, madly waving his arms over his head to catch their, or rather, her, attention (since Ace was too busy trying to argue for a ninth serving). She pulled Ace away from his shouting match with the chef to the table and pushing him down onto the bench before sliding in next to him and across Marco. The phoenix regarded her with a tired expression before redirecting himself back to his food. He had another purple jacket on, almost an exact replica of the one he gave her not even thirty minutes ago. Either she imagined the entire scenario, or he just owns a _lot_ of purple jackets. She's probably insane.

"You guys took your sweet time, yoi." Eleison sighed and jabbed one of the sausages and twirling her fork in front of her.

"Since you decided not to take your jacket back, I put it back in my room before heading out here," she replied uninterestedly. She bit off a piece of the sausage before putting her fork back down. "Thank you, though. I'll make sure to return it later." _If I remember…._

Thatch looked back and forth between Marco and Eleison before breaking out into a wide, less-than-innocent grin. One that might be described as 'lewd' or 'implying nasty things' or 'plain stupid'. He slung his arm around his best friend's shoulder and waggled his eyebrows.

"Oho, you gave her your jacket? That's pretty smooth of you, next thing we know you're going to get down and do the di- ow ow ow Izou that's my ear!" Izou yanked Thatch back to his side giving the cook a nasty glare that could have sent the bravest Marines cowering. Thatch weakly tried to fend off the geisha with little luck and turned to Marco with teary eyes, silently begging his great best friend to save him from his own lover.

Marco sighed. "Izou, you're going to tear off his ear."

"That won't be the only thing I tear off. I'm thinking about castr-"

Ace spat out his beer over to his left and all over poor Jozu, who was the unfortunate victim again. First Eleison indirectly threw him off the ship, and now Ace accidentally showered him with saliva mixed alcohol. Jozu slowly turned his perpetually frozen frown towards them with little droplets of alcohol sliding down his chiseled jaw, the corners of his mouth sinking further down his face. His expression didn't change much, but the other commanders and Eleison could see him silently questioning why does the world hate him so, especially Ace.

Maybe she should buy the poor man some presents if (not when) she comes back.

Maybe a lot presents.

Ace wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and gave Jozu an apologetic smile, but Jozu just scowled more.

"S-Sorry Jozu. You got uh, got a little something…." Ace picked up a napkin and was slowly reaching for Jozu's face, probably afraid that the Third Commander might crush his skull for spitting on him if he made any sudden movements.

And of course, Ace was coincidentally hit with another bout of narcolepsy before his good deed of the day was finished.

Eleison sighed before grabbing her own napkin and did Ace's task for him. "I'm sorry, Jozu. I'll send you some sake when I'm gone, okay?

Ah, shit.

Two pairs of eyes snapped to her and she did her best to not show her uncomfortableness at her stupid slip up. _Fuck fuck fuck. Why did I say that?! Dammit this is not going to end well._

She slowly turned around and gave Izou and Thatch (mostly Izou) a smile that hopefully 'I can explain please don't cuff me to the mast''. Marco gave her a pitying look before returning back to his food, that asshole, but she had little time to care about that especially with Izou looking like he was about to go trigger happy in the galley if she didn't give him a decent answer. She pressed her lips together in a grim line, thinking how she could possibly answer without 'answering'.

"I...uh…." Eleison hesitated, words already dying in her mouth. She sent furtive glances around the galley, trying to come up with a believable lie that would deter them long enough to make her escape. When all hope was lost, her eyes landed on a patch of sunshine locks and a fabulously horrible idea came to mind. Before she can stop herself, she nailed herself in the coffin with the easy words "I was going to buy Marco a present. For his birthday."

Fuck.

The entire room decided to fall silent after her statement and Eleison had never so dearly wished she had Conqueror's Haki; she could knock everyone out then make a run for it. If she wasn't the victim she would have been amused by the whole cliche scenario, so of course what ever higher power in the world decided to fuck her over.

Like usual.

Must be a Tuesday.

Marco slowly looked up with a carefully constructed blank expression and Eleison unconsciously stared at the phoenix with panicky eyes. This might be the first (and maybe last) time she had a perfect view of his face and for a whole second she lost herself in his piercing blue eyes. It was like staring into a sparkling ocean on a bright and clear day.

How fitting for the First Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates.

Before she could slap herself in embarrassment and sink into the floor Jozu (bless that man) decided to change the subject. Never had she been so thankful to the diamond-man. Girl's best friend, no doubt.

"Will you be staying long enough for the Whitebeard War?"

Eleison blinked as the words sank in and she turned away from her locked stare with Marco. At the mention of this 'war', the whole galley came back to life, bustling and yelling in excitement.

"Whitebeard War?"

Thatch sudden slapped his hands on his cheeks and yelled. "Oh yeah! That's in a few days! Sion you _gotta_ help us break Marco's winning streak!" He practically threw himself over the table to grab her by the shoulders to try to dislocate her neck by vigorous shaking. "COME ON SION IT'LL BE FUN! YOU CAN BEAT UP THE STUPID BLUE TURKEY, TOO!"

Marco glared at Thatch but Eleison was too busy trying to fend off the pompadour that was about to stick itself into her face to notice. That's too much hair for one person, how does Thatch do it. Ace chose this moment to finally wake up from his comfortable position on the floor, pulling his face from his puddle of drool. He blearily reached up to grab something to pull himself back up on the table and Jozu gave enough pity to grab Ace's flailing arm and yanking him up

"Welcome back to the land of the living," Izou commented. He pushed his own plate to the side and propped an elbow up on the table with his fingers curled under his chin. "How about it? You could give our very own dear brother a run for his money." Eleison would consider it if Izou didn't look like he had some ulterior motive just waiting to snare her.

"It's called the Whitebeard War, so it should only be for Whitebeard pirates," she reasoned. She managed to shove Thatch back to his side of the table before returning to her forgotten breakfast, hoping that reason was enough to beat down their hopes. "As much as I stick around, I really am not part of this crew. I shouldn't join in."

"No one will mind," Izou argued back without missing a beat. "It won't be the first time an outsider joined our little game."

Thatch snorted and folded his arms across his chest. "Yeah. Little game. We obviously didn't trash the last island we went to at all. Nope. Marco definitely didn't traumatize a few brothers that day, of course not. "

Izou ignored the cook's ramblings and held on to his gaze. "You should. Everyone on this ship is allowed to sign up, but a lot of them don't because many of them decide they rather live. Normally all the commanders participate, but the only times Marco doesn't win is when he doesn't join in."

Thatch puffed out his chest. "Even if Sion joins, I bet she still wouldn't be able to beat Marco!" he gloated, grinning at Ace. Marco glanced over, probably wondering why he was the one bragging about his victories for him, but shrugged it off. Eleison was never one to rise up to the challenge, especially from Thatch, and followed Marco's lead and ignored the raving lunatic. Her own slip-up was long forgotten (thank you Jozu) and she wasn't about to call attention to her again.

Her best friend, however, had no such filter.

Ace growled and slammed his hands on the table, drawing their attention again. "That's not true! Sion can kick that flaming bird's ass any day of the week!" Thatch visibly twitched and leaned forward until his forehead crashed against Ace. The two started shoving back at each other, angry snarls erupting between the two.

"Oh yeah!? Well Marco can kick Sion's ass any second of the day, you stupid walking fire hazard!"

OH YEAH?! Well Sion can kick Marco's ass anytime, anywhere, idiot hair head!"

Eleison felt like she should stop them before it escalates into something that will undoubtedly cause her a lifetime worth of headaches. Normally she didn't care about these kinds of arguments, but she had a bad feeling about this. Besides, the crappy insults should've been an indicator of shit about to go down.

Thatch suddenly stood up straight and crossed his arms, looking down at Ace with an unholy triumphant grin. One that he normally gives after a successful prank that causes mayhem on the Moby Dick. Those never spell good things for anything and she braces herself for the worse.

"Fine! I bet Marco can beat her in the Whitebeard War! If he loses, then Marco will give her a strip tease!"

Marco dropped his fork and started choking on his food and Eleison spat out her water all over the table. Eleison stared at Marco in muted shock as he started turning an unnatural shade of blue and hastily shoved a cup of water towards him. When Marco managed to gulp down the whole cup, he glared at Thatch and was about to say something as she turned to Ace to knee him in the-

"Fine!" Ace 'harumphed' and pointed threateningly at Thatch, who seemed smug about his own bet. "If Sion loses, she'll give him uh...she'll give him a lap dance!"

Marco and Eleison traded matching looks of horror before knocking their respective friends onto the floor with a well placed punch. She was about to try to stomp Ace's memories out of his face when loud cheering erupted around them.

"That's a great bet! I want in!"

"Who you going to bet on?"

"Obviously Marco! Never seen him lose!"

"I'm rooting for Sion! If Ace was even half right about the times she beat his ass, she could beat Marco's, too!"

Oh _no._

Eleison felt the blood drain away from her face, leaving her deathly pale as the galley erupted in cheers about the new betting pool. There was already people placing down bets and taking sides for the upcoming 'War'. She opened her mouth to say something, _anything, _to stop this before she really will have to participate and lose all of her dignity, but all she could manage was a choked out whine. Marco didn't look any better. For the mythical immortal bird, he looked like he could've died right then and there.

Why were they getting punished for their bet!?

She opened her mouth to protest the whole ridiculous bet, but her words died under a pitiful whine. Jozu shot her a pitying look before disappearing into the swarming crowd. Pirates began pulling and shoving her until she ended up outside on the deck in the center of a large circle. Marco was thrown in next to her and they stared at each other with fearful eyes.

This day just keeps getting better and better.

Around them, the Whitebeard pirates were shouting their bets and cheering them on, like they were about to have a brawl right then and there. She looked away from Marco and glanced over her shoulder when a familiar voice made notice.

"I'm going to rip your arms off and _beat you with them,"_ she hissed out, promises of death flaring in her eyes. Ace looked scared for all of five seconds before grinning. He was about to say something that might have been attempt to spare his arms when a loud laughter cut him off.

"Guahahaha! What's going on here, brats?"

Eleison whirled back around and craned her neck to stare up at the strongest man in the world. He had a gigantic bottle of sake in hand with tubes attached to his body. He grinned down at his sons and their chatter slowly dulled into silence.

Marco spoke up. "They want Eleison and I to fight, yoi. The loser has to..." He stopped mouth pinched into a frown. Eleison stepped in and filled in the words.

"Has to do less than innocent things, " she finished, hesitating long enough to give Marco a sideways glance.

"Guahahaha! Sounds interesting! Perfect timing; you can join in our little play fight then! Show Marco a good time!"

"O-Oyaji!" Marco looked absolutely scandalized as he gaped at his father in shock. Eleison silently considered the pros and cons of running for it right this second and leave this whole fiasco behind. Freedom, sad Ace, freedom, sad Ace...freedom. She was about to try to subtly sneak away when a strong hand gripped her forearm.

"Don't even think about it." Eleison slowly looked over her shoulder at her captor and gave a soft whine when she saw Izou. The geisha had a triumphant smirk on that sent shivers down her spine and knew all hope was lost now. If this bet had Izou backing it, there's no way she'll be able to slip away.

"I'm curious of Eleison's swordsmanship, I must admit," Vista unhelpfully added. A few murmured in agreement and started discussing possible outcomes that might transpire in a few days.

"But I don't know how to give a lapdance!" She blurted out, and there was a brief moment of silence until the pirate crew started laughing and making lewd jokes, some of them waggling their eyebrows to Marco. It was probably the most pathetic attempt to get out of the situation, but she was desperately grasping at the straws. Izou smiled mischievously before wrapping a 'comforting' arm around her shoulders. It would've felt better if it didn't feel like he was caging her in.

"Don't worry about that: I can teach you," Izou replied, wiping her excuse away with a wave of his hand. The marksman glanced over at Marco with a contemplating, 'I'm clearly up to no good but don't mind me' look and Eleison could almost hear the gears in his head turning. She wouldn't be surprised if Izou ends up rigging the game. And where did _Izou_ learn how to give a lap dance…? A brief thought of Thatch had her shuddering at the imagery.

If she loses, she has to give Marco a crappy lapdance that could potentially traumatize the both of them. If she wins, Marco has to give her a strip tease which wouldn't last very long since she can probably count how many pieces of clothing he's wearing with one hand. She'll probably make a run for it out of mortification half a minute in.

Or the very second the door closes behind her.

Yaaay.

* * *

**So yaay. Progress. I have now set the stage. LOOK AT THEM GO. But yes tell me what you think!**

**Follows, favorites, reviews are much appreciated! Until next time~**

**Undead Artist: Haha thank you I look forward to your review!**

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